Things I Love Thursday

...on Thursday! YAY!!!

Ok, so this post with be full of happy, sad, inspiring, etc. Prep yourselves, people!

1. Umm.... can we start off with the most awesome future designer EVER??? Check out the things this four year old is creating HERE

Seriously. This kid is a GENIUS!!!

2. We're considering changing our wedding date (previously Oct. 10, 2015) to October 3. It's National Mean Girls Day, y'all. That is is not why we're doing that. It's because of Fall Break. And it's going to be so fetch.

3. Rob's best friend has been living with us for awhile, and he is moving out in a few days. This has sparked ALL KIND OF DECORATING IDEAS in my brain about a guest room. That room never got painted, so I'm just freaking out thinking about all of the color possibilities!!! EEK!!! Here are some things I'm considering:

Maybe something navy? We don't have any REALLY dark rooms, but I'm so in love with all things dark blue right now that I am seriously considering it.

Or maybe something serene and quiet? I love this color sooooo much, but it is pretty close to the color in our bedroom, so I don't know..

Or something FUN!! Ok, ok. Not THIS fun...but pretty close!

5. Speaking of AMAZING rooms, the newest House Crashing on Young House Love has completely BLOWN MY MIND. I am so in awe over people who can put together all kinds of patterns/textures/colors. Please, people, teach me your secret ways.

Seriously. Teach Me.

5. And I just wouldn't be Cajun if I didn't share this fun graphic:

I'm not a HUGE fan of Mardi Gras, but teaching my class about Louisiana this week has kind of put me into the Mardi Gras spirit a bit! 

Thinking about school brings me to my last thing...

6. I have to end this post on a less happy note, unfortunately. This week, I have witnessed the struggles of SO many people who I love. Something that inspires me about people is to see how much MORE faithful they become in hard times. I have seen so many acts of bravery, strength, and faith this week, that my faith has been restored in several situations. One particular thing that pains me to write about is that a sweet student from my school passed away this week. I didn't teach her in my regular class, but I worked with her in several after school and summer programs, so I got to know her pretty well. She was quite the little character, and I think that every employee in our entire school felt a little piece of their heart break when we got the news. If you are inclined to donate to help Olivia's family to give her a proper funeral and to cover medical bills that she built up over the last few months, please visit this website: Sweet Olivia God is SO good. He gives us the strength to get through tough times. He reminds us every single day of His love. I don't understand (and I may NEVER understand) why terrible things like this happen, but I know that my God is going to heal my heart, and He is taking good care of his newest little angel. Fly high, Olivia girl! <3

The Daily Struggle

I can still remember casually mentioning a few years ago that I wanted to join a weight loss competition at school. My family members joked that I didn't have much to lose, but when I told them my weight, they were shocked....

See, I never struggled with my weight growing up. I was always tall and thin. I ate whatever I wanted, and I never worked out (other than dancing). When I started college, I didn't gain the freshman fifteen. My metabolism stayed strong, and I couldn't really afford much junk food. When I started teaching, other teachers joked about how my metabolism would not be so great if I kept eating the way I did, but I didn't believe them.

In my second or third year of teaching, I started noticing my clothes "shrinking." I didn't feel like I was gaining weight. I think that I had skinny girl complex. When I looked in the mirror, I still saw my 115 pound self from high school. I continued eating Reese's and drinking coke daily, and pretty soon, I couldn't fit into anything that I fit before. I bought bigger, baggy clothes. I held my weight in a weird way. My stomach and upper legs were big, but my arms stayed pretty small. I was living with Rob at the time, and our schedules were opposite, so I ate out almost every single night. It was a downward spiral that made me feel awful, but it happened over such a long period of time that people didn't even realize how much weight I had gained.

Then, I saw a picture of myself. And I stepped on a scale and realized that I was teetering at almost 200 pounds. I think that 200 pounds is probably a good weight for some people who are taller and more muscular, but mine was a 85 pound weight gain with NO muscle. And I was not ok with that.

Then, our district held a weight loss competition. I happen to be the most competitive person on the face of the planet, and this was EXACTLY what I needed to whip myself into shape. When I started looking for a team, people were wary because they didn't think I had a lot of weight to lose. I really did hide my weight so well. My family initially didn't love the idea either (see the first passage in this post), but when I shared my weight and my goals, my family and friends became VERY supportive of my weight loss.

I knew that the first step was trying to eat healthier. I immediately gave up drinking Coke (a BIG thing for me) and joined Weight Watchers. I started a running program called Couch to 5K. I joined a local Zumba class. I started at 2 nights a week, and I later got on the list to do 4 nights a week. I met my best friend Emily (the Zumba instructor) who also had an inspiring weight loss story (I'll ask her to share her story on here another day) that helped me to keep the weight off later in my own journey. And (lucky for me), the weight came off as I continued to change my lifestyle. I was eating a significant amount MORE than I ate before(lots of fruits and grilled chicken), but it was working because I was making the RIGHT choices about food! I became stronger and healthier. In four months, I lost over 40 pounds! Was it hard? YES. I constantly wanted to quit in the beginning. My cravings and headaches were TERRIBLE... but after a month, I stopped craving bad things. I wanted to fill my body with things that were healthy!

After the competition (which my team ROCKED at - We got 3rd place in the WHOLE district and we won Nooks!), I continued on my weight loss journey. I had fallen in love with working out. I kept running and eventually ran TWO half marathons. I loved Zumba so much that I continued to take classes, and I followed Emily back to her studio (409 Fitness Studio) where I started taking even more classes that I loved! After the competition, I lost 20+ more pounds over the next few years. This weight loss was more gradual, but that has helped me to keep it off.

Right now, I'm still almost 20 pounds heavier than my high school weight, but I don't care about that anymore. I rarely step on the scale, and when I do, I always feel surprised because when I feel like I'm doing well with my diet, I see higher numbers! Weight is confusing, so I listen to my body and give it what it needs.

It is still a daily struggle for me to eat clean. I don't like vegetables AT ALL. I wish that I was eating Reese's almost every day (because I still occasionally allow myself that treat). Some days, I would choose anything over running 3 miles. I have a love affair with Coca-Cola products. I wish every day that some famous nutritionist would decide that French Fries are the "healthiest vegetable", but I know that it just won't happen. I limit myself. I try to only drink coke if I'm eating out. We don't buy many unhealthy treats for our home. I definitely limit the amount that we eat out every month. I force myself to work out, even if I'm tired or stressed. I have come so far, and I never want to feel uncomfortable in my own skin again.

I know that this weight loss journey is NOT for everyone, but I wrote this post to tell you that YOU CAN DO IT!!! It isn't always easy, but it is ALWAYS going to make you feel better in the end! If you put your mind to something, you can do it! Give yourself your best life!

I recently read a quote by Pastor Rick Warren on our bodies that said, "God created it. Jesus died for it. The Spirit lives in it. I'd better take care of it!"

And now...here are some before and after pictures..

BEFORE:

BEFORE/AFTER:

AFTER:

Things I Love Friday (Again)

So.. here are some things that caught my eye this week on the internet:

1. First and foremost, I was blown away with Ellen Page's speech at the Time to Thrive conference. I am so happy for her! :)

2. I'm completely obsessed with the idea of filling the walls of our home with funny custom portraits of me and Rob. Is that weird? Or too conceited? I just think that it is fun. Obviously, when we have pets kids, we'll add a few of those in the mix, too. ;)

All of the above are ETSY finds. :)

4. I adore THIS article on not taking score.. This is an article that I really needed to read. :) I LOVE this line: "What if instead of keeping score we simply poured into each other as best we could and helped each other with whole, generous hearts?"

5. And the article above inspired me to find something else awesome about friendships: Click Here. If you stick around here for awhile, you will hear me discuss my amazing friendships SO MANY TIMES. I'm a person who truly believes that great friends are like rare stones. Words can't express how lucky I am to have some of the best friends in the universe. All of the people I consider my closest friends hold the qualities of AT LEAST 3 of the 5 types of friends in the article. Some are amazing enough to be all 5. I am so blessed.

6. We are working on booking our family photographs (a gift my sister and I gave my parents) with Just Be PhotoJennic's Jennifer Buck for this October. Her work seriously BLOWS ME AWAY! I can't wait to see what kind of awesome pictures she produces for our family! :)

7. A few wedding things inspiring me lately (because DUH):

This cake

.THOSE PANTS (and let's be honest - that entire wedding)

AND THIS. Because I'm only going to have this engaged time with Rob once....and it is the best season of my life (so far), and I just want to celebrate it with all of the Mrs. and "MGH" stuff I can find. :)

8. And lastly, my wonderful friend Andie's mom interviewed me for a local paper. She asked me about our engagement, my job, and my love of fitness. If you want to read all about it, go HERE. :)

Well, I've got to hit the sack now because we're going to see our first (and hopefully ONLY) venue tomorrow! I couldn't be more excited!!! :) Happy weekend, everyone!

Hello Yellow

Oh y'all...this kitchen!

Rob and I made the decision to put off our kitchen remodel for a bit, but in the meantime, it is just driving me batty. It didn't bother me before we ever decided to do the remodel, but now that I had a taste of an idea of what it COULD be, I have decided that I need a change (and QUICK)! 

Imagine my delight when a friend tagged me in a photo on Pinterest where the home owner painted the inside of their cabinets. I've seen it done before, but it never was at the top of my project list. This picture SHOT me into overdrive. Insert two snow days, and this girl was on a mission!

First, this is what the inside of our cabinets looked like BEFORE:

They were covered in flowery contact paper and pretty gross. They WEREN'T yellow..just discolor-y white. Discolor-y is a real word.

My first step was removing the contact paper. I looked up a few methods online, and I decided to try the hair dryer one first. Lucky for me, it worked like a charm! I would just put the blow dryer on one area for a few seconds (about 30) and then slowly peel it off. It came off in big chunks. This step took me about an hour (with a few snack breaks between - it WAS a snow day, after all). The paper was stuck a little more in the bottom cabinets. I stuck with the blow dryer method, but it just took a little longer.

After this step was done, I cleaned the inside of the cabinets. I had prepared to use Goo Gone, but they weren't sticky at all, so I used a sponge and water. We used paint with primer in it to paint the insides of the cabinets. Looking back, I wish that I would have primed them first, but I didn't realize this until halfway through. I gave each cabinet 2 coats.

And HERE is the end result! I LOVE them! They are SOOOO bright, but I can't help but smile every time I open them up to get something out!

I know that these won't be our forever cabinets, but they are making me happy for the time being. It is so nice to have some sunshine every time I get a snack. It doesn't hurt that this sunshine color reminds me that beach time is just around the corner and helps me to choose the healthier option snacks. ;)

Friday Favorites

I'm going to pretend that I didn't miss Things I Love Thursday yesterday, and just continue on with this post like you guys forgot, too. K? K!

I'll start off by saying this... I haven't blogged for a reason. We are getting VERY close to being able to reveal our big news (assuming that everything continues as planned). Keep the prayers coming, please! We can't wait to share with you guys (around Mardi Gras break perhaps!)

Now, onto my favorite things..

1.

Oh, ya know... just passing the time doing THIS.

2. I'm reading The Fault in Our Stars right now. It's taking me forever to read, because I'm afraid of how it will end. There is a trailer out right now for the movie, but I only watched the first 30 seconds or so, because I don't want it to spoil any of the book. What are you reading right now? 

3. Rob and I opted to not do Valentine's Day gifts this year because WE ARE ENGAGED and stuff, but he did surprise me with buying the ingredients to make THIS CAKE. Just in case you're too lazy to click the link...

NOM NOM NOM

4. Speaking of that whole WE ARE ENGAGED thing... we have narrowed down the venues to just a few. We are visiting them all in the next few weeks, and we should have a decision made by Mardi Gras. I don't feel overwhelmed at all by wedding planning, but I do feel a little pressure to pick a venue...especially since one of our main choices didn't have the date we wanted available. :/ I promise to keep you guys updated once we make our final decision.

5. And last, but CERTAINLY not least... my heart was so touched this week when the mother of a friend from high school wrote about me on her blog. She had asked awhile back if she could write about me, and honestly.. I thought that she wanted to write about our house projects! Imagine my surprise when I opened up one of the most thoughtful, kind gifts that I've ever received. I wish that everyone that I love could experience the joy I felt when I read what Ms. Lilly wrote about me. This woman has inspired me in the way that she lives her life for MANY years. It was a shock and blessing to find out that I had been doing the same for her! Thank you, Ms. Lilly. You'll never know what that meant to me!

To see the blog post (and so many other amazing posts that will be sure to inspire you, too), check it out RIGHT HERE.

And one last thing... I have a prayer request for all of you. We have several friends and family members who really would benefit from your prayers in the next few weeks/months. I don't want to share other people's stories without their permission, but I know that they'd appreciate the extra prayers and positive thoughts! :) 

Things I Love Thursday 3.0

So, I'll be honest...my brain loves all things wedding ever since Sunday morning. I have been mentally planning my wedding for years, so now that I have an excuse, I'm ALL OVER IT!!!

In the midst of trying to fix up our house, work on a secret (and exciting) project, and do schoolwork, I'm a BUSY lady..but my brain keeps returning to ONE place...our wedding! I promise that the blog won't turn into a wedding blog, but I get at least one week of excitement, right?

TILT - Wedding Version! :)

1. Right now, our main focus is finding a venue. We have a few top contenders, but we won't make any decisions for sure until Mardi Gras break (after we visit a few of the venues). We originally were looking for something close, but lately, a destination wedding has been in our wedding dreams. We're on the hunt for something near a lake and/or in a barn! Want some ideas of things we are looking into?

Lake:

See Wedding Here

See Website Here

2. Next, the date. We are looking at a pretty long engagement. We want to get married in October 2015. We've both always wanted a Fall wedding, and October 2014 is just a little too close! I don't want to be stressed about wedding planning, so we decided that October 2015 is perfect! 

3. Now, the colors. Ahh....this is where I'm torn completely. Part of me wants to do bright colors because it seems more ME, part of me wants to stick with yellow and gray because those are my favorite colors, and part of me keeps going back to cream/white and gold because they just make me happy. 

4. THE DRESS. I haven't even gotten close to dress shopping, but I have in mind exactly what I want, and I can't wait to get into a dress shop to try it on! :)

5. The extras. We want our wedding to be a FUN day for everyone invited. We want it to include games, a kiddie corner, and maybe a few other surprises... :)

6. The groom. Beyond everything else..the food, the venue, the photographer, etc...the main thing is this - I'm marrying the best guy I've ever known. I don't care if we get married at a 7-11. I'm just happy to be doing it with him. :)

Oh, and on that note, can we all say in unison...

;)

So, we ran a 13.1 miles...

...AND WE GOT ENGAGED!!!!

I am still completely in shock, so bear with me while my words jumble together as I try to tell this story.

Let's back track to Christmas. Rob and I were training not so  hard for our half marathon, and he gifted me a weekend getaway to New Orleans surrounding the weekend of the Rock N Roll marathon! I was so excited about a weekend out of town and not having to rush back home after our exhausting race like we did last year! The idea that we'd get engaged literally NEVER crossed my mind because we had discussed waiting until Rob graduated in 2015 to get a ring.

When Saturday morning rolled around, we packed up and headed to New Orleans. Our weekend didn't start like we had hoped because after lunch on Saturday, we got into a car accident! Rob's car got so messed up, AND he couldn't make it to the expo in time to sign in for the race! There were MANY tears, but thankfully, the Rock N Roll volunteers told us that Rob could sign in in the morning before the race! Whew! The rest of the night went pretty smooth. We checked into our hotel, went out for a nice dinner, and then went back to the hotel room to hit the sack early-ish.

We woke up bright and early Sunday morning and took this picture of ourselves in the mirror, and headed to our race!

At the time, we knew that my family was there to support us at 3 and 6 miles, but we thought that we would be on our own for the rest of the race. Last year, Emily drove out to see us at the 9th mile, but this year, she had plans and couldn't come. Here we are before the race - FULL OF EXCITEMENT AND ENERGY!!!

When the race started, we felt great...but as the race went on, we started feeling really bad. It was warm and drizzling at points of the race (complete opposite of the conditions we trained in). The ground was soaking wet. By the 8th mile, I felt like quitting...BUUUUUT when we turned the corner, Emily and my other good friend Danielle surprised us by being there!! It was SO AWESOME to see my girls! I got a huge burst of energy that carried us through to the 12th mile. At that point, we really had to talk ourselves through continuing to run again. We were both completely out of breath, but Rob removed his headphones and started to say sweet things to me. I told him, "STOP TALKING AND CONSERVE YOUR ENERGY!!" hahahaha Poor guy! Little did I know that this was the beginning of the most magical moment of my life!

FINALLY, we crossed the finish line and as soon as we ran across (and moved a little off to the side), Rob said, "I need to do something I should have done a long time ago." When I turned to look at him, HE WAS ON ONE KNEE!!! I was in shock! I kept saying, "No, you aren't!! This isn't happening!!" Two race photographers surrounded us and took pictures. I can't wait to see those pictures, and I promise to share them as soon as we can see them!! :) After that, I got a third burst of energy and started searching all over for my family and friends! Before I met up with them, Em and D found us. I couldn't even control myself. I ran up to them laughing and crying and screaming. Pretty soon, we were all hugging and crying and screaming! It was so awesome to share that moment with two of my best friends! :) Here are some pictures of me with each of them and all of the surprises from the goodie bag that they brought us:

THEN, my family came around the corner, and THIS is where the story gets HYSTERICAL! I can't even type this without laughing so hard that I cry! I started RUNNING and screaming toward my family. In my excitement, I tripped over a huge stick and fell ON MY FACE. It was terrible! I got up and finished running to them while everyone looked at me with open eyes and open mouths! After they realized that I was OK, we all laughed SO HARD. It is so completely MINDY to do something so silly! Here is a picture of me with my entire family after we were reunited!

And HERE is a picture of the infamous "TRIP STICK." The girls suggested that I take it home to paint it gold and put on our built ins. Do they know me or WHAT?

Anyway...now that this blog post is a kazillion words long, here are some pictures of me with the man of the hour and my BEAUTIFUL ring. Y'all, I need to do a blog post one day about how incredible this man is. He is my best friend, my family, my soul mate. He had been planning this amazing surprise for MONTHS. He had thought out EVERY SINGLE DETAIL! He really is the best person I've ever known.

**Just a little info on the ring - I asked Rob a LONG time ago for an aquamarine stone because it reminds me of the color of his eyes (CHEESY) and HE DELIVERED!! He chose this ring on his own. He said that it reminded him of me, and I couldn't love it more!! :)

Just like the race, in our relationship, there will be amazing times and tough times, but in the end, as long as we're together - it will all work out for the best! Thank you all for supporting our relationship and loving us so much. I hope that you guys don't mind that this blog will probably become "Haney WEDDING diaries" for the next year or so. We are SO excited to be starting this new exciting journey together!!! :)