Since I have difficulty getting photos where I want them in a post...

Here is a picture of one of the banners at Graceland.

Summer School has ended

Summer school went very well this year. As soon as we were finished DH and I took off for vacation. We headed out to St. Louis to meet with members of his chat room. We did some of the tourist things like Grant's Farm, where some of the Budweiser Clydesdales are bred and housed, and the Anheiser-Busch Brewery. The center picture is of the fence around Grant's Farm. The "pickets" are barrells from guns used in the Civil War. It is called Grant's Farm because the first house president Grant lived in after he got married is there. Parts of the brewery date to the late 1800's and are beautiful. The photo on the left is where some of the Clydesdales are housed at the brewery, and yes, the windows are stained glass. The photo on the right was taken inside the brewery. We also went to the Gateway Arch, but due to time contraints (we should have done more research) we were unable to go to the top like I wanted, but we did go through the Museum of Westward Expansion at the base of the arch. Getting in there was like going through airport security. We left St. Louis and went through Memphis. We got there too late to tour Graceland, but were allowed to park for free and tour some of the exhibits and visit the gift shops, which we did. We took a few pictures, including the banners in the parking lot. After that it was on to Atlanta to visit relatives.

One step closer!

I had the group psychololgical session and my next appointment, a 30 minute appointment with a nutritionist is scheduled for next month. I'm really getting excited about that.

Wedding planning is moving on. I'm trying to get some things done before school starts. i meet with the coordinator at the reception site tomorrow and Next week we meet with the woman who is doing the floral arrangements. When school starts, I'll have some paperwork coming up right away, so I won't have time to devote to wedding planning. I hope we have most things decided so the wedding can be put on the back burner for a while.

Summer school ends a week from Thursday and then we leave for vacation!

It has been a long time...

...since I was last here. So much has happened. Since I began my weight loss journey I have lost 25 pounds and haven't even had the surgery yet. I am still wearing the same size tops, but I've gone down a pants size! Soon I will need to take a new picture to replace the one that I've posted. Obviously portion sizes are smaller and different choices are being made. I've also been walking on my treadmill since walking outside is so hard on my knee. Today I finished and "passed" the psychological evaluation so I can proceed to the group sessions.

The school year ended on a good note. All paperwork and conferences completed on time and my observation went well. Summer school begins on Tuesday. We are in session Monday through Thursday mornings from 9:00-12:00 during July and I know all the students I am going to have and I have worked with all of the assistants assigned to my class so I am expecting it to go well.

My husband chats with a lady in British Columbia, Canada and she and her husband came east and spent 2 weekends with us. The week in between they took the train to New York City. We had a nice visit. They were quite generous and took us out to eat each day they stayed with us and I even managed to lose weight! They have invited us to visit them so that is something to look forward to in the future.

My husband and I have been spending part of each weekend riding on the scooter. I now feel pretty comfortable on it. Since losing a little weight, it is easier for me to get on. It sits higher than a motorcycle and I am short and what little height I have is in my torso. We are hoping to add a trunk with a seatback, which will have more cargo space and provide a backrest for me, which will make riding more comfortable and I will feel a bit more secure. Now all I can reach to hold on to his my husband's belt.

On Sunday my sister and I are going to a "spa" day. I know I'll be getting a facial, but I'm not sure what other services I'll have to pick from. It should be fun.

my journey has begun

On Tuesday my sister and I went to Penn state Hershey Medical Center for our first appointment in our bariatric surgery journey. We had an orientation, a visit with a dietician, a visit with a nurse, and a visit to the lab to have bloodwork done. I say journey because it is a 6 month long process before you even get to surgery. We each have been given a meal plan to follow starting now and we have to lose 5% of our body weight in those 6 months. Each month we have homework to do and if we don't do it our journey will be delayed. We have psychological evals scheduled in June. My sister has to have an exercise eval and I need to have a sleep study done.

Another featured shop!

This time it is earthcharms' turn. She has many interesting and unique pieces in her shop which are grouped into several "collections" each with a theme. The necklace pictured really cought my eye as I browsed her shop I just love the color combination of this piece. It would certinly make a statement no matter what blouse you would wear with it, but I think a black v-neck as pictured would definitely showcase it. Take a look at ther shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5084896 to see all she has to offer. She will educate you with the descriptions of her work.To find what else she is doing visit her blog http://www.earth-charms.blogspot.com/

Last Weekend...

...was fantastic. My husband and I flew to Nashville on Friday morning to meet people who post on a message board I belong to. It was so good to be able to put a face and personality behind a name. Not too much sightseeing because we spent so much time eating and talking. Some of the members live in the area and we met at her house on Saturday afternoon for refreshments and more chat. We ate at a White Castle, which may not be exciting to most people, but we don't have them where we live. We also checked out an Irish pub (twice) and a microbrewery. The microbrewery was fun as a group, but I'm not sure I'd go there again if I had the chance. The pub was lots more fun. They didn't take reservations, but we found a small "room" and we kind of took it over and there were 12 of us. The food was very good both times. The worst part of the trip was the motel. I was not impressed at all, very bare bones. We won't stay at that chain again unless it is a group thing and I will definitely voice my opinion. The only other bad part was we had to get up so early to get our flights because we couldn't afford to miss either flight.