1. Get down to 160 lbs (I’m probably 3-4 lbs away)
2. Get down to 150 lbs (160 lbs has always been my goal, but I think I want to lose an additional 10 lbs so I can hopefully comfortably wear three pairs of size 11 jeans that I just can’t quite squeeze into right now!)
3. Get at least $500 into our savings account by June
4. Solve or at least greatly reduce Kirin’s anxiety issues
5. Get new carpeting or hardwood floors (more recently I’ve been leaning towards the latter) for our living room
6. Consistently drink two protein shakes (that’s 50-60g of protein, depending on whether I use water or milk) a day
7. Get a small (no larger than two inches across) dragon tattoo somewhere on my body
8. Buy Dan the handgun he is really, really wanting
9. Randomly surprise our neighbors with cookies
10. Do at least one full-day activity (day trips, museum trips, etc.) with the kids each months
11. Dress up more often in lingerie for Dan (bow-chicka-wow-wow)
12. Tone up my damn thighs!
13. Successfully complete the 365 Days photo project I’m taking part in on Flickr

What is absolutely the best cookie you’ve ever had?
Without a doubt, those bakery-produced ones that are sold in a lot of grocery stores. Voortman’s is the brand, I believe. I’m not sure if they’re a local thing (I live near Philadelphia), but godDAMN are they amazingly delicious. The iced almond shortbread cookies are my absolute favs. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember, and I’m pretty sure I could quite happily eat my weight in them (of course, if I’m going to do that, it might be a good idea to check out some apidexin reviews as well, bwahaha).

What is a cookie you really don’t care for?
The vanilla Oreos. Whatever they’re called. Blech!

What are some other cookies you are rather fond of?
Chocolate chip, plain shortbread, and those Keebler Double Stuf ones. Mmm.

Grocery-store cookies are, of course, never as good as anything that comes out of someone’s kitchen, but what’s a packaged cookie that’s still pretty good?
All of Keebler’s cookies kick major assage!

In general, do you think cookies should be chewy and gooey, or should they be crispy and crunchy?
Chewy and gooey is best for chocolate and chocolate-containing cookies. Shortbreads should always be more crisp and crunchy!

• Up to this past week, what milestones have you celebrated in your life (college, marriage, career, birthdays, parenthood, etc)?
  October 1st was my fifth wedding anniversary! Dan and I went out for dinner, and he gave me a ceiling fan for our living room (he’s installing it right now). Its blades are wood, which fits the fifth year wood theme. I gave him a pair of Skechers (in cardboard box; cardboard comes from paper which comes from wood!) and a “woodsy”, campfire-scented candle.
• Do you feel as though you are on track with your peers, ahead or behind?
  I think I’m a little ahead, actually. I just turned 25 in June, and I’ve owned a car for four years, a house for two and a half years, and I have an almost five year old daughter and a three year old son. That’s a lot to have under your belt at 25!
• Do you work toward milestones or just let them come?
  I mostly let them come, but when it comes to weight loss, I work at it.
• Will you soon be coming across any milestones?
  I crossed a significant one two weeks ago — weight loss related. And I have something exciting coming up in November, but for now it’s a surprise.

1. What are the titles of the last three books you read all of?
   The Time Traveler’s Wife, Forbidden Pleasures, Baby Proof
2. What are the titles of between three and five magazines you subscribe to or used to subscribe to?
   I don’t subscribe to any. In the past: Cats, Parents, Glamour, Seventeen and Teen (those last two go WAYYYYYYYYYYY back!)
3. What’s on your night table?
   When I had one, there was a lamp, a box of tissues, my iHome alarm clock/ipod dock, some boxes, a contain of rewetting drops, a phone and my cell phone charger. Now I have my computer desk instead, which contains all of my night table’s contents except for the lamp, tissues and iHome.
4. What are the three best things that happened to you in the past seven days?
   1. Being with Dan (dorky sounding, yes, but I really am head over heels in love with my husband!)
   2. Finding work with Demand Studios
   3. Reaching a MAJOR milestone with my weight loss!
5. What was your senior yearbook quote, and what would your yearbook quote be this year if there were such a thing?
   I didn’t have a quote. Fail.

What are your feelings about milk?
Milk is good, but too fattening for me to drink. I cut it out of my diet, with the exception of being in food, in cereal and in a small glass to go along with homemade chocolate chip cookies, about five years ago.

What are your feelings about cheese?
Cheese makes everything (except for most breakfast items and all desserts) better.

What are your feelings about yogurt?
Not for me, but my kids love it.

How do you feel about soy milk?
Gross. I’ve tried it, and it just isn’t for me.

How far are you from the nearest cow?
The border of an Amish farm is about thirty feet behind our house. I drive by cows every day. I’ve almost ran into one (it got out of its pasture; I pulled over and went and notified the farmers about their runaway)..

I’m sensing a dairy theme here!

FEMALE SURVEY:
if you’re tagged DO IT.
if you’re not tagged DO IT.

Does your Facebook password have to do with a boy?
Nope. It’s all about me.

Big or small purses?
Big purses. Hobo bags and sling style bags, to be exact. The more crap I can cram into them, the better!

Do you enjoy drama?
Eh, drama is sometimes fun, but it can also be exhausting.

Did you dress up on Halloween?
Not anymore, but I still have a few lab coats laying around (my mother was a phlebotomist), “just in case”.

Do you call anybody by their last name?
Doctors, dentists, people that I don’t really know.

Can you put on mascara without opening your mouth?
Yes, but it feels unnatural.

Eyeliner or mascara?
Both! Eyeliner on the bottom, sometimes the top, and mascara on top and bottom.

American Eagle or Hollister?
Neither. They don’t cater to fat chicks.

Heels or Flats?
Flats. I like comfort.

Skirts or jeans?
Jeans, but I am starting to wear skirts every now and again!

Curly or straight hair?
Straight

Hoops or dangling earrings?
Both?

Have you ever had your heart broken?
Not in the sense of being dumped or broken up with.

Do you prefer light or dark haired guys?
Dark, rawr.

Do you have a best friend?
Of course! My husband.

Do you like your life?
Most of the time, though there is definitely room for improvement.

Have you ever walked into the boy’s bathroom?
Haha yes. As a prank, and to seek out my brothers (when they were much younger).

Have you ever jumped in the pool with your clothes on?
Once or twice.

Ever slapped a guy in the face?
Yes.

Have you ever cried yourself to sleep?
Yes

Have you ever not been able to get someone off of your mind?
Yes.

Do you ever wish you were famous?
No. I wouldn’t be able to put up with the paparazzi!

Five years ago takes us back to 2004. January and February were uneventful. On March 1st, 2004 I realized I had missed two periods, and that perhaps my extreme fatigue and very sore breasts were happening for a reason. I took a pregnancy test, and it came up positive. The next few weeks were quite emotional and stressful, as Dan and I broke the news to our families and figured out just what the hell we were going to do (needless to say, the pregnancy was not planned!).

In May 2004 I was five months pregnant with Alyssa (we didn’t find out her gender until June), and a month shy of turning 20 (this was a big deal to me, as it meant giving birth when I was 20 and thus *narrowly* escaping the label “teen mom”!). I was living at home, but only because Dan and I had moved back from Pittsburgh the previous December (a few weeks before I got pregnant! Heh.) and were in the process of regrouping financially.

Dan and I were engaged, obviously, and scrambling to find a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment or house to move into. We got jobs with our previous employer, and he was promoted to management within a few weeks. We worked together a lot, though there were times when we would work overlapping shifts, but one or the other would leave first.

Right after my birthday (June 13th) I got my very first car (prior to this car I had just used Dan’s 2001 Kia Spectra), a 1986 Buick Century:

On August 1st, 2004, we signed a lease two a small (okay, cramped) two bedroom house (a summer cottage that had been redone in order to be used year round), and moved in five days later. Dan, his brothers and their dad’s pickup truck took care of hauling our stuff from my mom’s house and his parents’ house to our small two bedroom house. I was also popping out big time:

On October 1st, 2004 Dan and I got married. We had been engaged for three years, but decided to get married before Alyssa was born, even though it meant forgoing the fancy wedding we thought we would have.

Alyssa was born on October 27th, 2004, nine days after her due date. Early labor started on a Saturday, painful contractions begin by Sunday evening, and by Monday they were rather regular. Dan and I went to the hospital around 5am on October 26th, but I was discharged a few hours later because I was not progressing. I was having regular contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart, but I was not dilated past 3cm, and my effacement hadn’t progressed beyond 10%.
I went back into the hospital on 1am on the morning of the 27th, screaming in pain and demanding that something be done. At that point the only sleep I had in the past 48 hours consisted of Percocet-induced restless tossing and turning for about six hours. Even the painkillers weren’t enough to keep me asleep during the contractions.
My water was broken for me around 1:30am, I was given an epidural to help me relax at 4:15am, and by 7am I was ready to push. Dan got to the hospital by 7:30am, I began pushing a few minutes after that, and Alyssa was born at 8:06am. 7 lbs., 2 oz., 20 inches in length.

On December 23rd, 2004, my grandmother died. It was the worst day of my life, being rivaled only by what I am going through now with watching my grandfather die.

And that should pretty much wrap up where I was five years ago. Quite a difference from where I am now!