A Conversation had Approximately 25% of Every Year:

The commitment of being noncommittal.

Hey.

Its been a while, but I mention that without apology because let's be honest, neither of us holds it against me.

full disclosure, I had to change that sentence because I couldn't figure out how to spell unapollogetically. 

Had a little photo shoot action last weekend. It was of a new (to me) variety that I had the opportunity in which to participate; thanks to the BFF for that :)

However, it was bad timing for the shoot becaaAAause: 

I started back to school this week. Your mom goes to college. I'm taking an accounting class, of which SHOULD span over 11 weeks, in five weeks. Things aren't off to a great start. I can't quite comprehend the slightly-more-than-basic accounting equation. I get it - money in, money out. But, no, it's not that easy. So, I guess I do naught "get it." After this class I'll take another Humanities class, same squeezed in style. Classes end just before Christmas so I'll be all stressed busy this fall.

This weekend Q will get some serious parenting time in with all three boys since I'm flying to Jackson, MS for my brother's wedding. My mom and her boyfriend will be there, plus a ton of other people I don't know or haven't seen since I was 11ish. 

Shout out to mom, btw, for confirming / unconfirming the jazz-age lawn party theme. I read that as "let's dress up with pearls and feathers and shit!" 

Mom, being her awesome self, read that as "I should make sure I do / do not need to dress up." She saved our seats as 'family' instead of 'the entertainment.' Again, thanks mom for stealing my excitement but for a really wonderful reason. 

School for the little ones is going well, I guess. I only really know about Josh since we see his homework agenda every day. He's got an issue with keeping his pie hole shut, but I've hopefully threatened that out of him (for at least another few weeks; fingers crossed). 

Autumn is really setting in around here which is great because a certain permanent roommate ;) has been jonesing to not induce sweating by simply thinking of how hot it is outside. Beautiful stuff going on here, y'all. I'm excited to start layering; I got a little taste yesterday: 

Oh, weight loss is going well, too. I knew after I broke 165 that it'd jump right back up - that's normal - but I wasn't going to let that knowing steal my getting-skinny joy. This morning I was exactly 165 and have been losing .2lbs/day for a few days now. I hurt my groin the other week, took the week off to heal and am back at it this week - although with less vigor. I'm using my excessive brain function as an excuse.   Since I stopped doing the 30 Day Shred in the middle of level 2 I just started over Tuesday.  Almost vomited / passed out no less than three times. So, I think I'm doing it right this time! 

We've got some serious stuff going on around here. Most of it revolves around me, naturally. :::insert lolz::: I've had to remind myself many times that if I'm going to be this busy, I'd better commit to not doing it all with 100% effort. That might sound terrible, but really I guess I'm just aware of my limits. 

Jessica: 164.8; Scale: 165. Except in this scenario, I win.

When I met Stephen *almost* two years ago, I'm not sure what I weighed, but I was thinner than I have been since. I'd guess low 160s. I remember at one point seeing 158ish. 

Sept. 10th I weighed in at 168.0. Before then I'd say I've probably gotten up to 172.

I've been actively trying to break 165 since at least January and have only gotten as low as 165.8ish - very frustrating although admittedly, I wasn't trying the entire time - lifestyle changes (read: diet, as a noun - not a verb) are difficult, man.

So. Do you wanna guess what the scale said this morning?! Huh? Do ya?

164.6

That's right, bitches. 165: BROKEN. 

I'm closing up week two of busting my ass 6 days a week doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred 4x/wk and doing my running training (2x/wk but should be 3, oh well), too. Last night while thinking about the next morning I actually caught myself thinking "ooh! tomorrow morning I get to run!" Lol, now maybe running only felt like a privilege in comparison to doing circuit training instead - but nonetheless - past Jessica could ne.ver! be found feeling remotely happy about "getting to" run. 

Not have to. Get to. 

I've been eating fairly healthy (carrots really do taste too carroty, though), keeping the calorie count around 1400/day and using MyFitnessPal.com to log EVERY.SINGLE.THING I take a bite of. That's a lie - I don't record chewing gum nor that nibble of cupcake that I regretted having. I'll live. You'll live. etc.

This morning's little scale-victory has stoked the proverbial fire! I'm quite excited to post before and after pics once I'm impressed with my new body more than I was ever ashamed of my old (current?) body. 

160 - I'm coming for you...

Running & Exploring

Last year Stephen and I participated in the Pooler, GA Daniel Defense 5k to help support wounded soldiers out of Ft. Stewart. It's a wonderful cause and the turn-out each year has increased exponentially. Last year I didn't plan to run it, I found out last minute that the boss' daughter made different plans so I ran under her name/number. I finished in 45:02 minutes having walked majority of the distance. Pretty crappy time, but whatevs.

It was that race that I realized how awful of a misconception I truly have of distance (& time, but that's another post). I didn't know what I'd gotten myself into and I felt awful for the next few days; like, big whiney baby status for at least 48 hours.

Anyways, I started the C25k (couch-to-5k) program sometime after, tired of it, and restarted in Mayish/June-ish of this year. As of the race this weekend I was on week 7 of 9, but that's because I doubled up on each week to make sure I was not only physically prepared, but mentally as well! Week 7 is where the program stops sending you on intervals and instead makes you seem like a real, live runner for at least 20-30 minutes of your day. I thought by having actually "trained" for this race, surely I'd shave off 5 minutes from last year's time. 

Nope. Only 48 seconds. Race Results

:::Insert meme of McKayla NOT being impressed. Ugh.:::

Oh well, even if only 48 seconds I DID accomplish running without stopping for 2 miles! Technically I was at 1.96 miles when I stopped, but that's close enough for me to say 2, so suck it :P  

What  a great victory anyways!! For now, I'll take a distance victory over time victory, for sure!! Oh, and at some point near the end I was told I was entirely too cheerful, having said good morning to 80% of every bystander I passed. What can I say, I'm an endorphin junkie ;)

Overall, I'm pretty proud of myself and am already looking for another race; I'm thinking the Turkey Trot in Anderson during Thanksgiving AND hopefully I'll be able to run the full 3 miles (and shave off a little time, too). 

photo courtesy of DD Pooler 5k FB page; thanks, y'all.

Oh, and on our way home from the race Stephen and I had some extra time to spare so we decided to go to Hilton Head, since we'd never been. Well, Hilton Head was 30 miles off I26 so we instead decided on Beaufort. Well, Beaufort was quite a drive too so when we saw a sign for an old historical battery site - Fort Fremont, we followed it. This is what we found: 

Nothing too new

I haven't been very busy this past few weeks - and that's ok =) I've tried a few new recipes, read a few good books, signed up for fall semester, visited with lots of family, and got my two oldest off to school (3rd graders!!). Life is good!

The boys are really doing well and our relationship (our part-timers and me, that is) is strengthened with each little visit - they actually get pretty excited to see me [so Stephen says ;)]and the littlest bit insisted I read the bed-time story this past Friday night! Little victories, y'all. Jack turned 8 on the 20th; Stephen and I surprised him at school with some yum-o cupcakes: 

idea culled from Sweetapolita.com

I officially dropped out of the office's "Biggest Loser" competition; it was genuinely ruining my Fridays (weigh-in day) but I've stayed very consistent with my C25K program (and my weight, bittersweet-ly) and will be running in a 5k this weekend in Pooler, GA. I ran it last year with about 12hrs notice and uhh, well, let's just say I KNOW I'll be besting that time! 

Let's see...what other personal info to share... Oh! My 29th birthday! I was graced with the wonderful quality time from the bestie, her man and my sweetheart for a painting class - what a great time!! However, the best gift I could ever receive was from up above. I decided to go for a long walk in the morning and would never have seen this had I kept my lazy rear in bed: 

stellar, right?! It was gone about 10 minutes later. Truly an unique gift :)

Drake & Sarah, Jess & Stephen

Stephen has been working very hard and is still enjoying his work - the company he works for released a bad ass new product - one that he had much to do with and which received rave reviews - at a show in June (July?). So, ya know, that's cool :) MOLLEminus System <~ aforementioned rave review. Non-work related - we've both been trying (he better than I) to stay on top of our health by cycling and running at least 3x week. He's looking way hot, y'all. Like, way hot.

And to catch you up to now-ish: we went to Anderson for Labor Day. We got to enjoy some home made bbq by Stephen's dad, cakes from The Sweetery, a fish fry by Uncle A and wonderful company by our friends from Atlanta (whose family also lives in Anderson) and of course, our resident Anderson fam. I wish I'd have gotten more photos than I did but here are a few for the wind down: 

Josh (8) Jack (8) Russ (4)