A Day with the Bama girls... More to come.

I owe you a post... I realize that but I have been having a whirlwind trip and I keep putting it off until "I have time"... Well, I'm about to get on my ship for my cruise in a hour and I never got the chance to post... So here's a quickie. I had a great time in Alabama with Kim and Kristen... even better I expected to and my expectations were high. I wished we lived closer to them so we could get together more often but such is life! It is amazing to meet such good friends without a job, or school to band us together... truth be told we are banded together by our bands... literally. My George felt like the king of the world surrounded by 3 beautiful girls and loved being our personal photographer all day. If you want to read Kim's detailed post or see some great photos from our day about our wonderful and haven't already here is the link. I will write more wonderful detailed post when I return from my romantic cruise... and we are onto more adventures.... Hint! Hint!

Dollywood was a "BUST"... LOL

Hey, DollyWood was a complete "BUST" and not in a good way, like expected. It rained all day at Dollywood yesterday and I didn't even get to go in Dolly's tour bus to check it out... What a waste! Nature can be cruel. Anyway, we moved on to Birmingham, Alabama and we are spending the day with Kim and Kristen here... and I'm really excited since I didn't get my boob fix at Dollywood, I'm gonna get my BOOB fix here. Photos and blog post to follow later!

My Road trip... to New Orleans

I am frantically preparing for an all-night drive... I prefer to drive at night when the roads are mostly clear. I am driving to Dollywood for my first post-band visit. It is good testing ground for my food addictions since the food there is to die for. I am going twice during this trip on the way to New Orleans and on the way home from New Orleans... Why would you do that, you crazy biotch? Well, I love Dolly Parton, but that's not why, I love the theme park, but that's not really it... I think I love the atmosphere during her festivals, This week is the Harvest Gospel Festival... and next week starts the Smokey Mountain Christmas. So I am hitting both. We have annual passes, and I enjoy the area of Tennessee too. I was hoping to see Lynda (This time next year...) when I drove through Georgia but I will probably see her on the way home in a week. We'll see... After we visit Dollywood, we are stopping in Alabama to see my favorite Bama Girls Kim (Goodbye Fatty McButterpants) and Kristen(*Kristen's LapBand Journey*)... I love them both, we had a slumber party til 4:30am in Chicago and laughed til our ports popped. And the Bama girls will get to meet my George for the first time. Then a few days in New Orleans before we leave on our cruise.... I am Super Excited. If there's a chance that any of you live in the Atlanta area, Pigeon Forge/Gaitlinberg area, Birmingham area, or New Orleans area... I would love to meet you if you have the time email me, or facebook message me from my link...

Thousand word thursday... wait what day is it?

This is my 100th post and since i dropped the ball yesterday by forgeting to post my thousand word thursday... here it is, a day late and a dollar short... just like me. It is about my Fit Flops.... As most of you know, walking is a renewed thing for me since I was rolling around in a wheelchair 7 months ago before my band of gold, well plastic but gold sounds more poetic. Anyway, I got some Disney Fit Flops several months ago and they are awesome, so awesome that I have worn them almost all the days since I got them. Last week, I adopted a sister for them. I had the bronzy brown pair and now I have the shiny black pair... Both are pictured here. Comfort can be stylist, it seems or at least adorable. I love them and they haven't worn hardly at all in the 2 months since I got them and wore them very often. And for my final statement of the night.... Let's Go Phillies!

I lost 92 pounds and my mind... this week.

Ok... I just ate more than a 1/2 cup serving of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream... Can you say stress eating? The Phillies lost again... and it is tough to watch. They are so much better than they are playing. So I ate my feelings... luckily all I keep in the house is low fat, light, no sugar added Ice cream. I am not mad at myself for eating ice cream... I love ice cream, It's delicious. The reasons behind eating it... not so much. I have come so far and need to "get a grip".... Sometimes, we will struggle to pay our bills, but lots of chocolate will not help my bank account. Sometimes, I will grieve and feel sad that my Dad and my sister are gone.... but no amount of cake will fill that hole. Sometimes, I will feel under-appreciated by my Husband, Friend, mother, brother, Mother-in-law, and donuts won't cure my blues. next week, I will have been banded for 7 months, I am healthier than I've been in almost 10 years and I've lost 92 pounds so far as of last night. 92 pounds... Can you believe it? Stressed is desserts backwards... but I am stronger than the old me and I am not alone on this journey... You are there with me.

My week in a nutshell...

The first photo is Me and Kim at our lunch... and the second is me and George on our wedding day.... October 14th, 1995.
Well, It's been a full week... for me. My George and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We went to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival twice... My Mother-in-law is visiting, and I had another mini-boob get-together.... First things first, My mother-in-law Barbara is here visiting, We are pretty close so I'm enjoying having her here and she's going back home on Thursday. She loves buffets so we've been hitting the buffets all week. I like buffets as well, as long as they charge me the child's price since I can't eat much. I do love the variety, that's for sure. A little of this and a little of that. Anyway, super fun... but not so great for my food options. I did very well, making healthy choices though, considering. George and I were married for 15th years last thursday. I can't remember a time when we weren't together but that's a long time. We went to Epcot on Tuesday for the food and wine festival... It was great. Our mothers both came with us and we had a great lunch at the Coral Reef... I got the Kids' Mahi Mahi.... which was delicious but then ended the meal with a Bailey's Jack Daniels' Chocolate Moose... It was so delicious, It's not necessarily a good choice... but my anniversary comes but once a year. And man was it good! We went to see Air Supply since my husband and I are complete AirHeads... LOL. It was the 20th time George has seen them in concert and I have been with him most of the times but it was kinda nice for his 20th concert to be here at Disney. Anyway, It was a great day. On Thursday while George worked, I drove to where Kim's mother lives to see my Boobfriend Kim... (Good-bye Fatty McButterpants)... We had a great time chatting and hanging out. I took my MIL and her mother met us during her lunch hour. It was awesome to meet the mother behind our Kim... She was funny and sweet just like Kim. Kim's new Do looks gorgeous in person too. I am so glad her family is so close to me since It means I'll get to see her again soon. After my George was done work, we went to Ohana's in the Polynesian Resort at Disney. We had to wait a lone while because we didn't have a reservation but we got a table by the window and had a beautiful view. I get stuck everytime I go there and this time was no different. I used to love that place but I don't think it's band-friendly... Anyway, Today we went back to Epcot for another day of the food & wine festival and Howard Jones in Concert... We met up with a couple of old friends who were actually at our wedding... and met their kids for the first time. It was wonderful to see them. Another nice day and this time I made good food choices and did alot of walking again. Baby steps... right? In other news... I got the black Fit Flops from Disney, the other day... my hubby surprised me with them as one of my anniversary gifts... I was going to wait for his extra discount but it is only an additional 5% so... this way, I'll have them for my cruise. I will have to show you the rest of my gifts in another post...

I love my Boobs!!! They are awesome...

My boobs are quite nice, mind you, but I am talking about my BOOBS... Besties that I met here in Blogland. My BFFs... If you will. Yesterday, I got to spend some quality time with Rani(Roo) from "A Brand New Roo". She is the Sassy Aussie who's living in Dubai these days... She is quite the adventurer and World Traveler. I envy all that she's seen and done in her somewhat shorter lifetime, so far. I will catch up someday... LOL. I met her at her Disney Hotel where she's been staying since she came in from Chicago, where I originally met her with alot of other BOOBS. We went shopping for a while, and had a great chat over dinner at Joe's Crab Shack... We had a awkwardly funny waiter named Hash... and i enjoyed my Mahi Mahi so much that I nearly licked the plate. Well, We talked and talked... like old friends. It was amazing. I never met anyone online before this blog came into my life, and I always wondered how people could fall in love and have whole relationships online, but I feel so connected to you all... and enjoy your ups and mourn your downs... You are my Good Friends. I can't believe how blessed this blog has made me. Anyway, I highly recommend Mini-Boob outings for all. I am lucky to live in one of the top tourist designations in the world... so I am getting alot of Boob on Boob action... You knew I was going there, didn't you?

The Cheesesteak.. stuck to my ass! and other works in progress.

Ok, I'm home and I've realized a few things while I was in Philly... 1)If I still lived up there among my people, I would find every pound that I lost. It's not just that the food is awesome(Cheesesteaks, Soft Pretzels, Rice Pudding, Scrapple, and all the pizza and hoagies/Subs are better because the bread is better), but being around my whole family brings up old eating habits... Moderation is not a word that I learned in my family or an action used in my family, but my metabolism can't handle that lifestyle and I know it. Now that I'm back I am struggling to get back in the groove... but I'll get there. 2) My nephews are probably the cutest angels in the whole world... well, most likely they are. 3) I have always been a people pleaser... but I didn't know it. I want people to like me so I become who I think they want me to be or "tone" myself down for them if need be... It is a good thing sometimes, but it is not constant. I feel like my family does not love me unconditionally and that I have to work on keeping them liking me... I like myself most of the time but feel like others need a different version of me to grow to love. The reason that i mentioned this is because in Chicago, i was myself. i was the true Maria. i was funny when i felt like it, thoughtful when i needed to be, graceful when the mood struck me, and I realized that I am a work in progress... always re-evaluating what i am or want to be. I know I sometimes rub people the wrong way and sometimes my sarcasm is too biting, or sharp, but I am trying to be or become the best me... I can be.

I absolutely love Jen from "A Freckle on the Nose of Life's Complexion"... She is funny, takes beautiful photos and see the world in an incredible way... I adore her and read her blog whenever she blesses me with a post... She is having a giveaway and I am giving her a shout out. She is giving away this cool alarm clock for those of us to prefer to remain sleeping from Think Geek. You have to check it out... and her amazing blog. http://freckleonthenose.blogspot.com/2010/10/giveaway-of-giveawayable-proportions.html

My Philly visit and a big goal for my 1 year...

I'm in the Philly suburbs at my brother's house spending time with my 2 perfect nephews Chase(2years) and Blake(4months)... I am truly blessed but, the internet access and my eating habits are not so good... 1/2 a cheesesteak, some pumpkin pie, a little birthday cake(my brother's birthday was last week) and my SIL made some killer oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and blueberry muffins. WTF... If i still lived in Philly, I would find those 87 pounds i lost real quick... but alas, I don't. I have turned down alot of treats but I gave in too much. I will be heading home in a few days and get back on track. I have a goal which seemed outrageous but when i did the math, It is very possible. I want to be down 150 pounds by my 1 year bandiversary, March 23rd, 2011. I can do it... definitely but I have to keep up the good work and stop being tempted too often. Now that I put it out there... in writing... Wish me Luck and lots of Will Control(Will power and self control)...