Memorial Day Weekend Recap

I had a fantastic and actually semi-relaxing holiday weekend!  I ended up not going to Galesburg just to enjoy some of that "ME-time" I was in need of (mentioned in last post).  There were many points in the weekend when I was not actually alone, but I got the mental and emotional break I needed!

Friday Highlights

-Dinner with Ryan, chicken tortilla soup, before my night out with the girls!

-Seeing Bridesmaids (for the second time) with my Mom and sister...and I will see it again, and again!

-Grabbing a drink and appetizer at Granite City

-Emily and I meeting Ryan, Mat, Ashley, and Andy out for a couple hours in Davenport

Saturday Highlights

-Getting off work in time to enjoy some relaxing with Ryan before he left for the weekend

-Taking a brisk, 30-minute walk on a beautiful afternoon

-Dinner at the Bierstube in Moline

-My mom incessantly waving at the fake Josh Groban (there's a story)

-The Josh Groban concert...O. M. G. he is an amazing singer!

Sunday Highlights

-Sleeping in! Even though that really only means 8:30, haha

-Watching a movie (Buried) at home during a grand ol' thunderstorm

-ZUMBA for the Wii

-Getting some cleaning done

-My parents house for dinner

-Enjoying my evening with a glass of wine

Monday Highlights

 -Hanging out with my little brother all day

-the Putnam Museum

-IMAX movie, "Born to be Wild"

-Swimming at West Lake

-Ryan came home!

-Grilling amazing, jalapeno-cheddar brats we got from the Farmer's Market

It was a great weekend...I didn't get as much done as I would have liked to, but I did get the "me-time" I was looking for.  Plus, it was long overdue that I spend some good time with my family!  I hope you all had wonderful weekends! Did you do anything exciting or rewarding?

Sarah's To-Do List

You know that ominous creature that you often think you have under control and then it grows to monstrous proportions?!  You know what I'm talking about, the never-ending to-do list.  I have quite the love-hate relationship with this little pest.  I am an avid list maker, I get a load of satisfaction from crossing things off of a list!  Even down to the grocery list; boy do I smile when I know I just picked up the last thing on my list. :-) But this to-do list...what a pain in my arse!  Whether at work or home, I never seem to have enough time to tackle it all, and before I can even come close to finishing it, more items are added to it.  I thought the wedding to-do was going to be the end of scary lists, nope!  At least completing things on that list was usually kind of fun!

I won't bore you with my pesky to-do list; I will, however, ask you how you handle yours?  Any advice for accomplishing things more quickly? I'm a big "one day at a time" advocate at work, but I can't seem to grasp that concept at home.  I think one of my biggest problems is that I probably spread myself to thin.  I don't leave any "free time" to get things done.  I have my routines and on my free days, I fill them up with activities and appointments and never just stay home to work on the little things. But I suppose that's the trade off, because hanging out with friends and family is always a good thing too.  I think I'm still working on finding that balance between husband, friends, family, and ME.  My short-term goal, like next week or so, cross three big things off of my to-do list.  That means making some time for ME!

Weight-Loss Struggles

I think the hardest thing about trying to lose weight, and I think some of you will agree, is having a week when you don't actually lose any weight.  Or worse yet, a week when you gain weight.  It's weird because people who are "maintaining" their weight probably jump around within a 5-10 pound range depending on the time of year, how much water they drank, what their salt intake was, what time of day they work out.  But oddly, even though my overall weight is down, I am losing (slowly!), I panic when I gain a pound back, like I have accomplished nothing thus far. 

It's hard on me, because I have grown to have a sort of love/hate relationship with food.  I eat it to make me happy, and then I hate how it makes me feel.  And unfortunately, when I gain at my WW meeting, I have a strange urge to give up rather than try harder.  And a pound or even half of a pound makes me feel like I've failed.  Even if I did make smarter choices, and work out more, suddenly that number on the scale kills a good week.


Well, I think that's been the biggest struggle, but also the biggest lesson so far with my Weight Watchers journey.  I am learning to be determined to keep pushing through, to celebrate the little goals I reach and remember it's not just about losing weight, it's about being healthy all around.  Whether you're doing Weight Watchers or not, when you are trying to lose weight, or tone up, or eat organically, the best thing you can do is forgive yourself when you "cheat," "mess up," "get off track," or whatever other negative term we've decide to give to our indulgences, and just keep striving for your goal.  In the long run, gaining one or two pounds one week does not make you a failure, it makes you human.  If I have learned anything from my last seven weeks with Weight Watchers, its that there are so many other HUMANS struggling with the same things I have been.  I have learned to laugh off a "bad" week and get right on with my life, because I'm not going to enjoy much if I'm always feeling guilty about my choices, the number on the scale, or the day I watched TV instead of rode my bike.  My "struggles" are feeling less like tall hurdles I have to jump over and more like little hills I have to climb.  I can slowly work towards getting over the hill without falling flat on my face.


I am still always open to any advice or recipes or tips and of course, always willing to share any advice, recipes or tips of my own...just let me know! :)  Happy Tuesday!

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory

I don't know how to pick a favorite memory!  I have so many good ones.  Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of pictures on my computer from my childhood and I wouldn't even know where to begin looking for them to scan in.  However, I can choose one significant memory that affected my future the most.  

During our first summer together, Ryan and I went to Six Flags and had such a fun day.  There's a story behind a lot of this, but I accidentally said "I love you," but he didn't hear it...but I was worried the rest of the day because I was sure I freaked him out and he was going to dump me.  But it also freaked me out that I said it, because I said it more like I say it to a friend, but the more I thought about it, I realized I really did love him already.  On the way out of the park, we made wishes in the big fountain, mine was that he would love me the way I loved him or something like that.  We promised we wouldn't tell each other our wishes until they came true.  Well, my came true soon after!  However, Ryan never shared his with me...until many years down the road.  

When he proposed, he explained how we had made wishes in the fountain that day at Six Flags and he was hoping I could make his wish come true!  Obviously, I said yes and we have continued to make great memories since...but I think this day will go down in our books as the day we realized we were meant for each other, and that's a pretty awesome memory if you ask me!

Day 02 - A picture of you & the person you have been closest with the longest.

I was assuming that family didn't count. Since 4th grade baby!! I miss you Lindsey...so much! Love you!

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with eighteen facts.

1. I just got glasses a couple of months ago.  No lies, I kinda like them.

2. I am starting voice lessons in one week!  I used to take them in high school and I'm excited to take them again. :)

3. I LOVE to cook...bake, not so much.

4. I am not a big fan of my hair...which is probably why you'll see it a different cut or color or both nearly every month.

5. I am very happy on my Weight Watchers plan so far, but I know I'll need some motivation down the line.

6. I found a new church that I love and I just hope Ryan loves it too.

7. I still have this little piece of my heart that is broken that we never moved to North Carolina.

8. I have a HUGE piece of my heart that is so happy to be close to friends and family back where I grew up...who knows what the future holds?

9. My favorite color is PURPLE, but I'm kinda going through a YELLOW phase right now.

10. I love weddings, I love helping plan them.  And now I know my back-up career path!

11. After only two full months of it, I am a huge advocate of Big Brothers Big Sisters, it's an amazing experience.  If you want any info on the program, please let me know.

12. Even when ties have been cut with old friends, there is the feeling in my gut that the friendship can still be revived.

13. I watch Gilmore Girls, every night; and I mean EVERY NIGHT before I go to bed.  I'm sure you can imagine how many times I've been through the series.

14. Since I am so close to beating LEGO Star Wars and I LOVE it so much, I switched to LEGO Batman so I can savor the ending of LEGO Start Wars another day.  LEGO Batman is OK...Star Wars is much better!

15. You could ask me any day what my favorite song is, and it probably changes every time.  But I do have specific songs for specific moments, memories, people, emotions in my life.  I know, how cliche is it to relate so strongly to music?

16. I miss doing homework.  Call me crazy, but I like writing papers and doing research.  Is Grad School calling my name?

17. I am 25...holy crap, I am 25!

18. I have 8 weddings so far this year, and I am in 4 of them in one way or another! EXCITE!

Stylish Blogger Award!

Emily from Today Tomorrow Thursday chose me...ME to accept the stylish blogger award.  I'm pretty pumped because I don't even have 15 followers yet, but you can bet I follow plenty of blogs to pass this on :)

In order to accept the award I must list seven facts about myself and then pass this award on to fifteen other bloggers!So here we go:

Seven Facts:

1. I recently had surgery to remove my gallbladder, I'm still out of work, but feeling fabulous!

2. I am officially involved in four weddings next year and so excited for them all.

3. I just got my first email from my soldier through Adopt-a-soldier. I highly recommend this program to anyone who likes to send letter/packages (hint hint Emily!)

4. I know this is not unique, but I LOVE etsy. It is one of the shopping sites that is not blocked at work and I spend a lot of my down time on it.  I'm not even crafty enough to have my own store!

5. I own all four seasons of Dexter, my favorite show that is still on TV

6. I have never seen one single episode of Jersey Shore

7. I got my wedding album yesterday and it made me cry!

Fifteen Bloggers (In Alphabetical Order):

1. A Meandering Memoir

2. Biscuit

3. Buzzings of a Queen Bee
4. Decor Adventures

5. Faith Olivia Perry

6. Iowa Girl Eats

7. LDC Designs

8. Linda Loves

9. NerdGirlBlogging

10. Something Beautiful

11. Sometimes Sweet

12. Thrifty Decor Chick

13. The World In Focus

14. Throw Grammar from the train 

15. Unkamama

Day 28- A picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?

At the Iowa State Fair, Summer 2009

At Wrigley Field, Summer 2010

Well, one thing that hasn't changed is that I totally love to give thumbs up!  


A lot has changed in the last year, but then again, not so much.  I got married, which is definitely the biggest change that happened in my life!  But that has also not been so different since my husband and I have now been together for almost 6 1/2 years.  At this time last year, I was a teller at a crappy bank, and now I'm a personal banker/lending assistant at an awesome bank!  I am probably about 5 pounds heavier :( But I'm working on it!  Things in my life have changed, good and bad, and they have changed me.  In a sense though, I don't know if they've changed me or just brought out some pent up emotions.  


Losing a friend has been the most significant change in my life and that has changed how I feel when I wake up in the morning and go to bed at night.  It changed what I dream about when I'm sleeping and what I strive for when I'm awake.  But I think I'm still the same Sarah, just with a new perspective.  It's becoming a positive change, which sounds horrible and weird to say. But it has helped me realize the importance of letting the people you love KNOW that you love them.  I've realized I need to put passion into the things I choose to do, make them worth while.  I'm determined to enjoy each day in case it's my last.  Most of all, it's important to remember people I've lost with a smile.  It's OK to have tears, but they should be accompanied by happy memories.  That has changed me the most this year, but it's also just brought my true emotions and feelings to the surface.

Day 16- Another picture of yourself

What's funny is I don't have a lot of pictures by myself except on my wedding day...here are a couple from my honeymoon!

Lou Malnati's pepperoni pizza!

Enjoying Coca-Cola Light in Costa Rica

On a hike in the rain forest.

Day 1- Recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

On my wedding day

1. My favorite color is purple, but only because black gives off a negative vibe, otherwise, black would defintiely be my favorite color.
2. When I have kids, if I have a girl, her name will be Lindsey.
3. I LOVE to ride bikes, it's the only working out I really enjoy.
4. I'm shrinking!!  In high school, I was 5'10" and then at the beginning of college, I was 5'9 1/2" and now I am 5'9".
5. I watch Gilmore Girls every night before I go to bed...I have now been through all seven seasons three full times.
6. I am chlosterphobic...and please don't tickle me!  I especially hate being tickled when I am in small spaces.
7. I have two cats, Peter and Cali...and until three years ago when I adopted Peter, I was a total dog person.
8. I wish I spoke German
9. I love to sing and dance...just wish I was better at the latter. ;)
10. Most girls want lots of purses, or shoes, or dresses...I want books and movies.
11. I strongly dislike the "Real Housewives Of...", do not try to make me watch it.
12. I really like "Top Chef", new one tomorrow night!
13. I have been the bride, and can't wait to be the bridesmaid, hopefully more than once!
14. I am a pretty big fan of Silly Bandz...and I know that's pretty silly.
15. In another life, I would like to be a pilot.

30 Days of Me

I've been wanting to be more commited to this blog and I think this will be a good way to do it.  I saw this on someone else's blog and maybe you'd like to participated as well!  Stay tuned =)

day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

day 2- the meaning behind you blog name

day 3- a picture of you and your friends

day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have

day 5- a picture of somewhere you've been to
day 6- favorite super hero and why
day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

day 8- short term goals for this month and why

day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days

day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

day 11- another picture of you and your friends

day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one

day 13- a letter to someone who has hurt you recently

day 14- a picture of you and your family

day 15- put you ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

day 16- another picture of yourself

day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have

day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them

day 20- someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future

day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy

day 22- what makes you different from everyone else

day 23- something you crave for a lot

day 24- a letter to your parents

day 25- what I would find in your bag

day 26- what do you think about your friends

day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge

day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?

day 29- in this past month, what have you learned

day 30- your favorite song