getting back in the swing of things...

I feel like I’m dragging lately...With being so sick last week, having a full weekend with weddings, and right in the middle of my 2 busiest weeks, I can’t help but feel very overwhelmed and not wanting to do one thing!

I still have a lot of cold...My ears are both still completely clogged up and I’m just plain tired! I have been editing SO MUCH this week and still have a ton more to do before Friday! Saturday is a new wedding, so I’m trying to get as much done as possible before then!

I haven’t exercised since last Monday:( My appetite has come and gone! The only thing I wanted to eat last week was chicken noodle soup from Panera Bread. After that came up, my taste changed to cinnamon rolls and orange juice! So for 2 days straight all I ate was cinnamon rolls for breakfast/dinner and orange juice! Healthy huh?

I’ve been eating more this week but I’m just not hungry. Today, I was so hungry by lunch time..I had a lean cuisine meal and 2 100 calorie packs and my stomach was still growling! I’m slowly, but surely getting back to normal!

Kaz and I did celebrate his birthday on Monday night a little more. We walked around the Citadel[his college] and then ate at Kicken Chicken and 32 toppings for dessert! It was a fun little night!

AND it wouldn’t be a birthday without having a silly picture of Miley...SO this was Kaz’s birthday card:) HaHa! I think I have officially lost it:)

the BIG 30!!!!

Kaz is officially out of his 20s! He is 30 today! I had planned a "surprise dinner" for him on Friday night when he got back to Charleston. Kaz and I can NEVER keep secrets! I kept 2:) I was VERY VERY sick on Friday. I practically had no voice, a very stopped up ear, and I was just plain tired BUT I was determined to still celebrate. I told Kaz I made reservations at a restaurant in the Charleston area for 8pm. I said that was the only time available BUT it was really that late because our friends Liz and Todd were coming down to surprise him. 

We were both in the kitchen. I told Kaz I was going to fill my camelback up with water/Gatorade to carry with me for the car ride. Just as I was doing that, the door bell rang and I asked him to get it. He was SO SURPRISED! 

We went to dinner at Fleet's Landing downtown Charleston. We sat outside right on the water! It was such a fun night! The food was fantastic! AND the best part, Kaz was COMPLETELY SURPRISED!

Happy Birthday Kaz! I love you:)

he's home, he's home!

My handsome husband is home from Colorado! Just in time...It has been a rough couple days in our house! I have been sick all week! Last night, me and Miley were both sick throwing up[I have no idea why she was]! I went to the doctor this morning to find out I have strep throat and a really REALLY bad ear infection! I was told not to be surprised if my ear drum didn't burst it was that bad! AND I have 2 weddings this weekend WITH NO VOICE! So Kaz came home just in time! He is so sweet and has offered to help me at both weddings....He will be my voice:) He's the best! Me and Miley are SO GLAD he's home!

a very hard day...

Kaz and I had a very fun weekend together...While it was fun, it was still very hard because of mother's day. Not just for me, but for Kaz also because it was his first mother's day without his mom. We both knew the weekend would be hard, yet we didn't really talk about it all week. When Friday got here, it was like all these emotions hit at once. I went from being really happy to really sad. I never thought I wouldn't be celebrating this mother's day. AND at the same time, I felt bad that I was hurting while Kaz was also in a different way. 

So many of you wrote me emails of encouragement over the weekend, and I am so thankful for all of them. On Friday, I received a card from a friend that said this:

Amy,

I have no words that will make a little perfect baby come soon. I pray for you and Kaz as you wait. I know for sure that you will be a mother. The wait is not easy, I know. As I come to celebrate this mother's day, I look back at all the other ones that were so hard and I barely remember the pain. You too will look back at all these days and they will be filled with love and life of a little prikazsky. You and Kaz are very special to us and we love you both. Praying for you especially on mother's day. 

While this mother's day was hard, it was also very different than any other. One, so many people reached out to me and I tried to do the same with women I know struggling through infertility and adoption. Second, I was reminded over and over that even though we don't yet have a baby, I have a mother's heart. Anyone going through infertility/adoption feels and goes through things that no one else can understand unless you have been through them. We are kind of in those "pregnancy" stages in our adoption, the baby is just not growing inside of me. I fully believe that. We are waiting for the arrival and we pray more than we have prayed about anything in our lives for this baby/birth mom. So while it was extremely hard, I was/am hopeful. My sweet husband even gave me a mother's day gift. It blew me away that he would think of this, and it was the perfect gift! A new pair of NIKE RUNNING SHORTS! Ha-Ha!

The lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all

 he does." Psalm 145:17

loosing weight...

As many of you know, I have lost a good amount of weight. A lot of people ask me how I’ve done it, so I thought I would show you a few pictures and tell you a few things that have worked for me.

In 2009, I gained a good amount of weight. I was on infertility drugs, had knee surgery, and just honestly didn’t care what I ate. I was going through a very rough time with not being able to get pregnant and food was my outlet. When Kaz and I got married, I weighed 155. I’ve always weighed a good bit more than I look, I guess because of muscle. I’ve had friends who were the exact same size clothes wise and they weighed 20 pounds less than me. I’ve just come to realize that’s the way my body works. 

January 2010, I weighed 193! SO a total weight gain of 38 pounds! Looking back, I honestly can’t believe HOW much weight I gained. It’s easy to see something completely different in the mirror, AND I just wasn’t seeing how I really looked. 

My eating/exercise habits have changed over time. All of 2010, the only form of exercise I did was run. Eating wise, I usually ate smart ones and 100 calorie packs. I WASN’T super strict.

2011 has been completely different. I’ve been determined to get back to 155. In January, I ran a half marathon and soon after became VERY burned out on running. So as of lately, I run 2-3 days a week and do cardio/toning class 2 days a week at the gym. My eating habits have changed quiet a bit as well...

A typical day looks like this:

Breakfast: Yogurt + blueberries + granola

Snack: Pineapple or 100 calorie pack

Lunch: Smart One

Dinner: Salad + Grilled Chicken[sometimes I will do a mexican salad and add black beans/sweet corn...Other nights it’s just spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, and Italian fat free dressing]

I’ve really been working a lot harder lately...Even though my weight hasn’t gone below 159 I have continued to loose inches. I went from a pants size of 12 to 8 and a shirt size XL or L to M. My jeans can now all be dried and they are a size 8! I’m wearing jeans that I used to wear when we first got married!  My clothes fit a lot looser and I honestly feel the best in shape I’ve been in a while. 

Kaz says I’m the smallest I’ve ever been, BUT he just doesn’t remember how I looked when we got married:) I still have a ways to go BUT have been very happy with my results! 

Total weight loss: 36 pounds

Below is my story in pictures....

MARCH 2009

AUGUST 2009

 

SEPTEMBER 2009

OCTOBER 2009

MARCH 2010

MAY 2010 

JUNE 2010 

DECEMBER 2010

APRIL 2011 

MAY 2011

a great weekend...

We had a REALLY FUN weekend! This was my first weekend in a while without a wedding[AT HOME] AND my only weekend free in May, so Kaz and I really tried to take advantage of it! Not to mention, he goes back to Colorado tomorrow:(

We met my parents for dinner Friday night for mother's day! Below are a couple of pictures! We ate at Chili's BUT due to the where the sun was our only option for a backdrop was HOOTERS! Ha-Ha! Kaz couldn't get his eyes right for some reason:)

 After dinner, we met Liz and Todd for Marble Slab! My favorite:) Cake batter + rainbow sprinkles + chocolate chips + chocolate waffle bowl = THE BEST!

Saturday morning, we slept in until 9! That's super late for Kaz! Normally he's up at the crack of dawn! We went to Mount Pleasant and ran the Cooper River Bridge, walked around downtown, and went to the dog show! For dinner, we had some friends over so we made hamburgers! Miley wanted one SO BAD! 

Such a fun weekend! Just sad to see Kaz leave tomorrow:(

a woman's thing...

Most women would say their "thing" is shoes or purses...Don't give me wrong. I LOVE both of those...I have a couple purses[I usually get rid of them after 6-9 months] and I have a lot of shoes[although I only wear 1 pair...my rainbows!] BUT MY THING is Nike Shorts! I have probably 20+ pair and I still want them! In my mind, I can't have enough! The brighter the colors, the better! I'm 100% sold on these shorts for running, working out, and just lounging! They are awesome! AND I wear them pretty much EVERY day during the summer:)

These are the ones I REALLY WANT!!!

a little bit of everything...

whew....the last few days have been BUSY BUSY BUSY! I'm so thankful for a little break and a free weekend AT HOME! So much has been going on lately...

We have started a couple new "nightly" routines...Every day when Kaz gets home from work we take Miley for a 2-3 mile walk in the neighborhood. She LOVES it and so do we:) It has become a great time for us to talk, catch up from the day, and just enjoy the beautiful weather for a little bit! It also helps that by the end, she's completely GIVE OUT and just mopes around all night! It's quite nice! We also started back in April really dedicating time each night to read the bible and pray together. We've always done devotionals together[not every night] and prayed together but it's been a lot different lately because we've started doing it every night AND we look forward to that time together. If this isn't something you do in your family, you should really try it out! I promise you won't be disappointed!

[how she looks when we are done walking!]

My dad's best buddy CPete is in critical condition in the hospital. He had a stroke and brain aneurysm. Please keep him in your prayers. My dad and CPete go to town mostly every Friday and Saturday morning together. He has always called himself my dad's son. Even though it's not by blood, he is apart of our family...Please keep him in your prayers...

I've started working out really hard again this week...March and April were really crazy with work and all the traveling I've been doing! I'm really determined to loose those few extra pounds and be able to run longer than 5 miles again! We recently joined the YMCA because I just can't run outside during the summer..the heat really gets to me, so I've been going to some classes! They are GREAT BUT I have been quite sore! 

Updates on the adoption...really none:( It's been kind of disappointing lately because we are coming up on our "year mark of waiting", which means we have to complete parts of the home study over. We have almost got all of those parts done, but it's been really hard to think about...BUT we are hanging in there and TRUSTING IN HIS PLAN...

moes, miley, and kaz...

my husband is the ABSOLUTE BEST! I had a really late wedding on Saturday that was in Spartanburg[about 3 hours from our house], and an early engagement session this morning. According to the timeline of the wedding, I shouldn’t get back to Charleston until around 3am Sunday morning and then have to get up around 6am to leave for the engagement shoot! My sweet, sweet husband decided to drive me to the wedding and hang out all day in a coffee shop/book store so that he could drive back and I wouldn’t be by myself! 

If that wasn’t already enough to show me HOW MUCH he loves me, he also brought miley and moes downtown today....I had a busy day full of sessions with about an hour break. He knew I wouldn’t have time to grab lunch so he came downtown, brought moes, and miley! He’s the absolute best! We had some extra time to go for a walk so we did:) [Please excuse the way I look-I was in a boat for about 3 hours this morning for an engagement session! I looked a little rough:)]

Kaz, YOU’RE THE BEST! 

 If you can't tell...Miley was GIVE OUT!