My place.

A few posts ago I promised pictures of my place. I finally got around to taking the pics... So, I present, "Karin's humble abode":

Right when you walk in you are greeted with my living room. The couch is a sofa sleeper I inherited from my grandma when she moved in with us. I also inherited the end tables. I LOVE my rug!!! I got it from Tuesday Morning and it's something I will never let go of... even though Ian doesn't particularly like my floral taste (but I don't like his geometric taste). Gotta love my pitiful Halloween decorations on my coffee table.



Next up is my favorite room, the kitchen. I don't know why I love this kitchen so much, but I do. Sometimes I just sit at the table, and be creepy. The table was another inherited item from my grandma, and it was the thing I kinda fought for (at lease I would have if anyone else wanted it). I love this table because my grandma and I used to play dice, Mexican Train or just eat breakfast (dry cereal, toast with raspberry or strawberry jam, half a banana and orange juice) at this table. The two side chairs are the original chairs that came with the table and are still the original color. Ian and I took on the project of re-finished both our tables one weekend and that's when I painted mine black. I love it even more now. Eventually I want to get new chairs because I really don't want to keep gluing these ones like I do now. The rugs are, again, Tuesday Morning purchases and the one under the table was my housewarming gift from my amazing mother. Isn't she fabulous?? Excuse the washer and dryer... I was doing laundry when I took these pics. If you look hard enough you can see more pitiful attempts at Halloween decorations on my stove. I just noticed I didn't get my favorite part of the kitchen... I found a really good deal on picture that is hanging above my sink. It brings all the colors in and I love LOVE it because you see when you first walk to the apartment.

This is the hall. I am standing in the guest/office/sewing /storage room. To the right is the bathroom, to the left is my bedroom. At the end of the hall is a mirror I also got from my mom. To left of that is the front room and the right is the kitchen. The rug will be the death of me. I love it but it slides EVERYWHERE!! I have the rug grip thing under it and everything, but it still slides around every time I walk on it. Ugh. The coat closet in the middle of the hall terrifies me because I found a tarantula making his home in there (okay I might be exaggerating). I FREAKED out and cried and called everyone I knew but I ended up having to kill it myself. It was horrifying... and I had to give myself the "I'm bigger than him" pep talk a few times before I succeeded.

The bathroom. Not much to say.... I got the shower curtain and the matching towels/toothbrush holder/soap dispenser at Big Lots so that's cool I guess. The faucet leaks. Everything has been re-modeled but the faucets are still quite old so it reminds me of how old the building is.


My bedroom. I LOVE my headboard (I know you can't see the detail, sorry). I bought it off KSL over a year ago. It was already that cute mossy color which I love. It has a hand carved floral design in the top that I love. The only downside to the bed is that it is REALLY squeaky, and I toss and turn in my sleep so I feel bad for the neighbors. The rug is from Home Fabrics in Midvale. I like it, but its not my favorite rug in the house and that picture is another thing from my grandma that I LOVE. I remember it hanging over her bed for YEARS!

So, there you have it! My new place!!! Its small and simple, but I love it. I also LOVE visitors so if anyone wants to come play with me I would love it :)

Jax-man, Jax-man I sure love my Jax-man.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAX-MAN!!!

Wow..... I can't believe you are SEVEN.
You are the best big brother.
You are so kind and considerate
I love all the good times we had when you were little
I love when I say I love you you still say "I love you too"
You love your cousins and that makes me happy
You were my first "boyfriend"
Never stop trying to figure out how things work, it makes you smarter
Don't be afraid to love school
Never stop loving books the way you have since you were a babe

Always remember that you have a family that loves you dearly... and we will always be there for you if you ever need help (even when we live 6 hours away)

'Tis the season..... for haunted houses

Ian LOVES anything scary/haunted/creepy/possessed/frightening. I hate anything scary/haunted/creepy/possessed/frightening... with a passion. I won't read books that are thrillers, see any scary movies, or watch ghost hunters on tv. I dread this time of year, every year because I have to listen to his incessant attempts of getting me/tricking me into going to a haunted house. I don't understand why Halloween can't be filled with Martha Stewart worthy crafts and recipes. I love Halloween.... just not the haunted part. Ian and I started dating in July of 2007, that means this coming Halloween will be our 5th together. In the last 5 years I have never been to a real haunted house with him. Last year was the first year I even stepped foot in one at Frightmares at Lagoon (we've had season passes for the last 4 years). But this year, well something special is happening this year. You see an abandoned warehouse in SLC was bought and re-furbished into a haunted house. The address is on right on 666 west... which alone is scary.

I'm afraid I may have to go... and spend my nights following curled up a ball with all my lights on. I'm not exaggerating.

I hate Halloween.

last week

Last week was a bad week for the diet. Wednesday for lunch me and girls at work went to Pizza Factory for lunch. We had their unlimited salad bar which was okay but paired with that delicious breadstick... I'm not so sure. Later that night Ian's mom, sister and I went to a card making class. We go once a month and love it, but we also love the dinner after... last week we went to Training Table. I had a turkey sandwich, a cheesy, delicious turkey sandwich. I will say I was proud of myself because I skipped the cheese fries and the soda, opting for water instead, however I'm pretty sure the turkey sandwich was a few too many calories. So that was a bad day, then Thursday night Ian and I went to a little Italian restaurant in Bountiful called Marcellos. It was delicious, but Italian pasta/cheese/grease/deliciousness is definitely NOT on the diet. Friday for lunch we had a pot luck at work, where I always end up eating WAY too much, and this was no exception. That night, we went with Ian's parents to one of our favorite little places, The Fox Hole II, in Sandy. I tried, but ended up with a BLT and a water. Granted a BLT is still better than most "bar food" but I still felt guilty. Saturday I had a lunch date with a good friend at Paradise Bakery where we split the Walnut chicken salad sandwich and the chicken ceasar salad. And finally yesterday I did well for breakfast and lunch but for dinner we went to Ian's parents and had A-MAZING steak and potatoes. Then I had two, YES TWO, desserts. I had the pumpkin pie AND a caramel apple.

Oh my. Well there's always this week, right? On a brighter note, OAMM posted the new October menu this weekend, but I canNOT decide if I want to do the diet menu, the whole foods or the vegetarian.

The Circus

As a surprise date last week, I bought tickets to the circus. Little did I realize that I had bought 2nd row tickets until we got there. Ian could not have been happier. Here we are right when we sat down :)

The new me....

I have never watched what I eat... ever! Let me tell you a little story... once upon a time I was sitting in an Intro to Animal Science class at USU and we starting talking about McDonalds and the type of meat they use in their burgers (disgusting BTW). The professor asked the class, of about 45, who eats McDonalds at least once a month. Almost everyone raised their hand. He then asked who eats more than once a month, some hands went down. I think you know where this is going... he asked once every two weeks, once a week... steadily the hands keep coming down and mine stayed valiantly raised. When he gets to the once a week there were probably 3 or 4 of us with our hands up. Finally, he asked if any of us eat more than once a week.... I was the only one with my hand still up. This should have been an awakening, but that was 2 1/2 years ago.

When I was a senior in High School I had a gym membership. I went to the gym most days, if not twice a day because that's just what you were supposed to do... so I did. I maintained my size 4/6 figure quite well, while eating like crap. Then I graduated high school. I was working as a bank teller full time while going to college full time at the University of Utah, needless to say I didn't eat well then either. Lets through a new boyfriend in the mix, and we were re-modeling our house so we didn't have a kitchen... but we did have a plethora of yummy fast food 2 minutes away. I quickly went from a size 4 to VERY full 8... more like a 10. Gaining about 25-30 pounds.

(High School dance 06)

Freshman 15? I had that down and then some, but things get worse. I quit my job, applied at Utah State University and got an apartment with my two best friends. I had a reputation at school for getting anyone to skip class for food (here's looking at you Carters). I also developed a loved phrase that I still use today, "I mean, I could eat." This phrase was lovingly used when a roommate would ask if I was hungry and that was my response. We ALWAYS had candy (even if it was half-eaten and found in the couch... (you know who you are M), We frequently sat and watched MTV (Tool Academy anyone?), and chomped on cookies, chips, ice cream, and chocolate. And my roommates liked to say things like "I could REALLY go for brownies right now" meaning: "Karin, please make brownies!!" to which I obliged quite frequently. We had a BLAST and I will always remember these days when we would rather watch tv and eat then meet anyone else, but I'll tell you what I gained a LOT of weight... like another 40-50 pounds.


So here I was, by all standards obese, and really unhappy.

I made the big decision to move back home a year and a half ago and have not regretted it ever since. My weight fluctuated but never got below 180 until my mom started a diet and I stole some pointers. I had just gotten a job at a bridal shop and was on my feet for 10 hours a day (easily) and had VERY little to eat during the day. The pounds started melting off. I lost 45 pound from my highest weight ever, but I still wasn't eating right right or exercising outside of work. We would eat out nearly every lunch and Ian and I developed a nasty habit of eating dinner out more than we should have. But I was maintaining my lowest weight since the few months following high school. I was getting compliments all the time and I was finally able to squeeze into a size 10. Life was good.(this is actually the DAY I got the job offer)

In May I started my new job. My sit down at a desk job. Who knew that sitting at a desk all day would fatten me up so quickly? After being there for only 3 months I had already gained a WHOPPING 23 pounds back. Ouch. Really ouch. I vowed I would never see the scale hit that number again, and here I was only 3 months later and it was staring right at me. I was depressed. Really depressed. I looked into stupid cleanse diets that guarantee significant weight lost, I even looked into (gasp) liposuction. I had such a hard time with myself, and poor Ian go the brunt of it. I cried, I complained, I ripped jeans, I cried, I shoved my face with chocolate, and finally I cried. I'm surprised he still wanted to be around me. It was a bad time.Sitting at my desk at work

Then a little angel in the form of my boss started asking me to come to the gym on our lunch breaks. At first I was REALLY hesitant.... I have always preferred to sit and complain rather than do something. But I started going with her and she KICKED MY BUTT!!! We started going 3-4 days a week for only about 40 minutes because we have an hour lunch. I started to really like it and I dropped a few pounds before I went on my trip to Disney World. Of course I gained it all back in Florida (and then some), but I came back with a renewed interest in exercising AND eating right. When I was in college I made a few meals that I would freeze for a later date, but I hadn't done it since, so I started thinking about doing that as well. I ran across a FABULOUS website that did all the research for me. I just had to take their grocery list with me to the store and follow their directions for the meals and I had a full month of meals. My boss and I decided to try it. I have not had such good (and good for you) food in long time. I crave the tuna and crab burgers, or the low fat beef stroganoff (only 250 calories!!) and don't even get me started on the double chocolate muffins. But above all the yummy food, I am still going to the gym at lunch and I have started to also crave the gym. I have noticed that my days are better, and feel shorter when I work out and I have noticed that my energy levels are up considerably since I made the food switch.

So far I have only been doing the food for about two weeks and have already lost 3 pounds. So I would say things are looking up. Ian has also been eating some of the foods I have made and he loves them as well, so I'm thinking this is a permanent change in my life. I love the extra money I have in my bank account because I'm not eating out all the time, and I refuse to buy new clothes when I want to drop so much more weight.

I know this is a REALLY long post, but I haven't ever really talked about my weight struggles, and I was feeling enlightened. I hope to be able to keep track of my progression through my blog, and if anyone has any encouraging thoughts or tips please let me know :)

F21

I have an obsession with F21. Everything is SO cheap but I can't justify spending money when I am working so hard on dropping a few sizes, so for now I will window shop. Here's a taste of my fall wishlist:

Apparently I have a thing for belts... interesting.