A new weekly tradition

I just came up with a brilliant plan for me, myself and I. Tonight I was talking to my brother and we were talking about what motivates us.  I had talked about this with a guy a work with, I guess he's more like a mentor, a few months ago but never really determined what my motivation was.  Motivation can come from a thousand different sources. For some its fear, but I don't operate that way. I am motivated by my success, and maybe even the success of others. Mostly my own success though and what that success can bring me. This brings me to my brilliant idea.

At the end of every week on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, depending on when the Mr. is at work since thats when I am blogging for now, I am going to reflect on my personal victories of the week in the different areas of my life. At least I am going to TRY to every week. To do it all, you have to juggle a lot. I'm juggling roles as a wife, daughter, sister, friend, dog mom, working woman, and included in that is my role as me. That probably makes zero sense, but I mean what I do for me. This is going to bore the shit out of some people, make me sound like I am a self-absorbed ass, or it could be motivational for someone else.

• I went to Zumba 3 times this week and tonight I saw the highest number of calories burned that I've seen since I've had my monitor.
• I am officially down 15 pounds and back to my pre-casino trip weight. Yeah baby.
• I got 3 loads of laundry done this week. Its extremely impressive.
• I have a meeting with a potential customer tomorrow morning. This could be my first big customer.

Thats it for this week. I think there were more, but victory number 4 reminded me that I need to get a good night's rest because tomorrow could be a big day! I'll leave you with this completely true ecard that someone posted on Facebook tonight.

back on track!

I hate to see weekends come and go, but my body was pretty happy to see this one go. Wednesday afternoon I left for my first business trip. It wasn't bad.. until Thursday morning when I started snackin on donut holes, then ate a mini bag of chips for lunch, then a cookie with my subway sandwich. Like I said in my last post, this trip was going to be full of poor food choices, but not all of them were expected.  My meetings were slow and I am definitely a "bored eater." Boring meeting + cookies, donuts and chips = piss poor decisions.  Thursday I stopped snacking long enough to be super duper hungry for Danny and I's reservations at the steakhouse.  Luckily we had a food comp and could splurge on nice things like shrimp and crab cocktail and filet mignon. My 12-year-old appearance caused the waiter to ask us if we'd like a "soft drink." I'm 99.9% it was because of that. It happens. After we stuffed ourselves silly, we gambled a little.  I am a sucker for slots and I love me some roulette.  Its easy and I like playing with my husband.  He says I'm bad luck for him though. He lost his ass on our cruise whenever I'd sit with him. It happened somewhat on this trip, but definitely not as bad. Regardless of how much money we lost, we still had a good night and thats what counts.

That plan was a bust

My smokin' hot husband and me before
our delicious (and expennnnsive) dinner



 

 We were gambled out and in bed by 11pm and I am not complaining at all.  It had a little bit to do with my early wake up time and a little to do with the fact that Danny was on the verge of the flu. My poor hubs was hurtin and being sick away from home is rough. He didn't eat any dinner, which helped me make a better dinner choice of salad with some chips and queso. (I didn't say good, I said better) Saturday he woke up feeling better but definitely not 100%. We planned on eating the Paula Deen Buffet before heading home and we still did.  He only ate one plate, which was okay since I had 3. When at the Paula Deen Buffet, the phrase "When in Rome" applies.  I got this cute little thing too.

Like I said, my body thanked me Sunday when I resumed normal eating activity and went to the Zumba toning sesh. I am back to counting calories and workin the bod. Summer is right around the corner and it is crunch time.  I'm back in the right mindset and I plan on getting shit done.  There might be some running in my future. I tried a few months ago, but trying a running program in DECEMBER is just setting yourself up for failure.  We shall see.

A break is near!!

I have a GREAT weekend coming up. I am currently sitting in a hotel room because I have meetings in the southern part of the state tomorrow and Friday for work. The fun part? Tomorrow night I get to stay at the Horseshoe... a hotel/casino in Southern Indiana... and its FREE! Free tomorrow night and Friday night. My dad and his friends went there a few times a year and I get to enjoy the perks of his visits/gambling. (Sidenote: he didn't have a gambling problem. The Horseshoe just treats guests right) The hubs and I went down there for fall break after the hubs turned 21. We got 2 free nights and $200 of complimentary food. We had a blast! This little weekend getaway is much needed. The hubs has been busy working at the firehouse and I've been busy working and super stressed.  It'll be nice to just be away from home for a night or two.  We have dinner reservations at the Jack Binion's, an awesome steakhouse at the casino, tomorrow night. Its a quiet little restaurant, and quite pricey. Pricey means calories don't count. Paula Deen Buffet ALSO means calories don't count. Yeah... its going be a delicious weekend thats for sure.

Delicous weekends also mean a lot of work afterwards.  I haven't been to zumba in over a week and missed the toning session on Sunday.  Last Thursday I worked too late and it was Valentine's day, then Sunday I felt like poo and didn't have it in me. Fortunately, I haven't undone much of my progress.  My size 8 jeans still fit and people I haven't seen in weeks are still commenting on how small I look. It feels good, but I could be doing so much better.  I've come to terms with the fact that I need to be patient with myself while I ride out the shitstorm that work is for a couple more weeks then get back at it. I'm going to continue to go to zumba when work permits and count calories as best I can. After work calms down, Jillian Michaels will be a frenemy. I'm thinking 30 day shred? It seems like quite a commitment and I'm just not sure about it. If anyone happens to stumble upon this post that has done 30 day shred before or has thought about it, I need some input!

Sunday was a day of fun for the hubs and me, which is also another reason I didn't go to zumba. We went to the boat sport and travel show in Indianapolis, then furniture shopping.  Mr and Mrs Summers took full advantage of the President's Day Sale at Ashley furniture.  We are anxiously awaiting a new mattress, sofa, loveseat, ottoman and end tables! WOOO HOOOO!! There are no words to describe how thrilled I am that we are getting a new mattress. I've bitched, moaned and nagged enough for 3 years to FINALLY convince Danny that it is necessary. Love that man for finally giving in :)

Time for me to go to bed. Early start in the morning. Nighty night :)

Valentine's Day

Low key and wonderful! And in true Erin-fashion, I extended the wonderful day into 2! I get an entire week for my birthday. The hubs really loves it! Since this is a crazy time for work and I knew I wouldn't get home until late evening on Thursday, Danny and I agreed I would get my surprises on Thursday and he could have his Friday. His surprised required more time so I needed Friday.

Thursday morning as I was getting ready for my marathon work day, the hubs got up and got my wonderful cards out, one from him and one from the kids... Diesel and the cats. Inside the card from my wonderful husband were (fake) tickets to an Indianapolis Indians game. We went to a game last year and it was awesome! Tickets aren't on sale yet which is why those tickets were fake. Anywho... fast forward to 8pm when I get home from work... Like I said, marathon... This is what we had for our romantic dinner.

Yep, that happened. I actually offered to cook a Red Baron pizza, the fire baked kind for a little extra special somethin... nope. The hubs wanted the $3 Jack's pizza.  I shouldn't of been suprised. I offered to make him a steak one time and he replied, and I shit you not, "I actually just want some pizza rolls" He really is the perfect man :)

 

Last night was my turn.  I came home from work with snacks from the restaurant around the corner for dinner.  All fried too. The hubs face just lit up! We ate our nutritious dinner and I went out to the garage to prep.

 The hubs was kind of confused when he saw it. I asked him if he had any idea what was going on and he looked at me like I was a crazy lady. Not really a new thing.

 

 

 

 

After we painted our little hearts out (and I drank some wine and ate some of the Almond Joy pieces I got for Danny), we created these masterpieces...

 

 



 



We are going to have a garden this summer and are both very excited, Danny especially, so a garden project was perfect. He talks about it at least once a day.  Last year we had a small garden of tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, corn and green peppers. We didn't know what kind of gardening skills we had so we started small.  Clearly, we think we're pretty good and are adding more to the garden this year.   The only issue we had was keeping track of where we planted what. Cucumber and watermelon plants look pretty similar in the early stages, and now that we have markers... no more confusion. 

Valentine's Day was a success for Mr. & Mrs. Summers this year :)

holding myself accountable

I've come to a realization over my last few blog posts. I was thinking to myself this afternoon "Erin what are you gonna write tonight." The next thing that came to mind was well, your food choices were anything but stellar this weekend. They weren't even decent. Then there is the realization... that seems to be a trend. This blog holds many purposes, one of which being to hold myself accountable for my lifestyle. Tomorrow is where it starts. I'm only saying tomorrow because its 830 and I'm not eating any more today. My choices are what they are and I can't go back and change them. I can change them moving forward though. Thats that. This realization comes just in time for the start of the 6 week toning session of zumba. My instructor is a freakin boss and every once in a while, she'll throw in an extra session for 6 weeks that focuses on toning. I think its fabulous because the regular sessions are mostly cardio. I mean we squat of booties til they won't squat anymore, but Sunday includes arm work, ab work, mucho booty work, and tons of leg work and not so much jumping and shaking.  Its that good burn that you know is going to make getting out of bed suck bad.

I'm currently watching this awful one-on-one date that Sean is on with Tierra. I just wish they could hide Sean in a closet when she is interacting with the girls so he could see and then pop out in one of her "I'm the freakin best" rants. Ah, I would lose it! She's freakin crazy. And that whole "these girls aren't gonna be around much longer" line.. that was a mistake because thats bitchy and Sean ain't gonna fly for that bitchiness.  Time will tell... and by time I mean 30 minutes when the show is over. I'm such a reality tv addict. I'm not the least bit worried about it.

Valentine's Day is this week! I am a sucker for cheesy gestures and love the holiday. I even liked handing out cards to all my friends in elementary school. Its just fun. I've got something super cute planned for the Mister this year and I can't wait to present it. I'd tell my whole one reader (Hi, Kathleen :) ) what the plan is, but on the off chance he reads this, I'll wait until Saturday to show off my cuteness. :)

Time to watch the end of Tierra's demise. Night all!

Take a break to celebrate

To say I've been busy would be the understatement of the century. I worked until 6:30pm last Friday night which is a alone is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, then I went back in at 8:30am on a freaking SATURDAY! I mean seriously?! Don't worry though, I treated myself to a nice unhealthy McGriddle and diet coke on my way to the office. Yes, I reward myself like I am a dog. It happens.

Then to keep up with the current trend, I helped my brother celebrate his 21st birthday this Tuesday. In true Overman fashion, we kicked off the evening at the local Mexican restaurant for a "fish bowl" which is a 46 oz margarita. I only got a 27 oz... and also ate 3 enchilads topped with cheese... and rice... and chips and cheese. And lets not forget the 2 beers I had at the next bar. I mean, I had to drink the second one because it was free. Of course, Tuesday is Zumba night. Ooooh my life!

 
My brother's girlfriend and I threw this masterpiece together in record time. Her and I can make some Pinterest projects our bitch, as you can see from this awesome beer cake :)

He's a pretty lucky guy to have a big sister AND a girlfriend that both spoil him.

She also made him an awesome cake in Crown Royal colors with a mini bottle of Crown on it. She's a crafty one!

My smokin' hot husband and me.  He jumped on the Lose It bandwagon with me and has lost about 15 pounds in the last few weeks. I am so proud of him. It is true that if you and your spouse do it together, it really is easier. I've also seen more success in myself since he started tracking his calories with me.  He is also a champ for putting up with my family's shenanigans out in public. :)

 

Me and the birthday boy! He was an absolute trooper the entire night! Of course, Danny and I peaced out early since I had to work early, but I've heard the night was a success ;)

Happy Birthday, Drew!!!





Now that the birthday festivities have come to an end, I am back on the carlorie countin' bod' workin' track and I feel much better today than I did on Wednesday in the aftermath.  Eat better, feel better :)
It might also have something to do with the fact that I ROCKED the booty work tonight at Zumba! I normally have to take a 5 second break from the squats and squat jumps, but not tonight folks! That is even after binge eating on Tuesday instead of shakin' my thing. Boo-yah! :)