I finally figured out how to post blogs on here through my e-mail! So I'm excited that now I should be able to blog from my BlackBerry, and maybe that'll allow me to post more often than I have been lately... It's so hard for me to sit down in front of a computer when I'm home, now that I am in front of one all day long. And I hate to blog from work...

Well... I am officially 17 lbs. lighter than I was January 1st. I'm proud of it in a way, but in another way I'm not.

I put on 12 lbs. over the holidays. TWELVE POUNDS. There is no excuse for that. I'm embarrassed and disappointed in myself for letting it happen. But it will most definitely be the last time...

So anyways, I didn't really consider the first 12 lbs as a loss because it was just getting me back to the point I should have never left. Regardless though, I have worked my behind off these past 2 months, and although it's been tough at times, I already feel 1000% better.

Kris was telling me the other night that he's noticed some changes in me lately. He said part of it he thinks had to do with getting out of retail. Slowly over the past year I have become happier and happier (he actually used the word "cheerful").

I think he's right. I feel like I'm a lot more patient, and optimistic about things. I'm able to laugh a lot of things off now, and before I really had a bad habit of letting things get to me.

And he said since I've been losing the weight, I seem like I've had more energy, and I'm more willing to do things. I know that part is true. When I was heavier, I didn't want to do anything. I sat on the couch and fell asleep every night at 8:00 or sooner, and then I could hardly get out of bed in the morning.

Since I've been exercising, I've been keeping so busy at night that I've actually gotten 2 weeks behind on my TV shows. Our DVR is almost full because there's so much else I want to do at night!!

I'm not happy with how the Biggest Loser contest is going though. I counted 50 people (out of 400) who were ahead of me last month. And the #1 person had lost 32 lbs.!! How can someone lose 32 lbs. in one month???? It's a little discouraging, but I know how easy it is to start off a diet real strong, the real challenge is keeping up the momentum after a month or two. So I'm gonna keep going and hope I can move a little closer to the top for next month.

Kris is keeping his end of the bargain too. He has not smoked a cigarette in 3 weeks as of today! I am SO proud of him, because I know this was a very hard thing for him. I have been working on getting him to quit for 3 1/2 years, and was almost to the point where I thought it was impossible. But he said seeing how hard I was working with my weight loss while he wasn't doing much of anything for his health got him thinking and gave him a good reason to give it a shot!

I think he thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was. He figured the cravings would be gone after a week, but he is STILL having them every day. He did it cold turkey though, no nicotine gum or patches or anything. He just quit.

He was supposed to get his PS3 after one month of not smoking, but after two weeks of watching him nervously try and find stuff to do to keep his mind off the smoking, I gave in and let him have it. (He didn't know it had been sitting in the basement- I had grabbed one on sale!) I think it was the right thing to do though because it definitely keeps his fingers busy and off the thought of smoking!

He's also been learning how to brew beer, and I definitely think this has become a favorite hobby for him (second only to BBQ-ing!) The first batch came out very good, although I only let myself have one thanks to my diet. The second batch is just about done (It takes about a month from start to finish!)

Other news in the Barnlund world, we have a new niece! Her name is Ashlyn and she was born on January 30th. It's so interesting, I've seen tons of friends have babies, and I love them all, but it's so different when it's family. I see so much of Erik, and even Kris, in her... and it was just amazing to see them with her the day she was born.
It's definitely got me thinking a little bit lately. I'm starting to wonder a little about what our kids would look like :) Just a little...

We made our hotel reservations for Denver and Disney. We are going to Denver over Memorial Day weekend. I'm pretty excited about that, we LOVED it there in October, I can't wait to see it in the spring... And I'm glad we'll have more time to sight-see this time. There is definitely a lot to see! We are going to DisneyWorld December 17th-22nd. I thought about it a lot (Kris didn't care!) and decided I wanted to see Disney at Christmas-time. I was there once at Christmas when I was young, and I remember it was absolutely amazing. Plus, this will give me a reason to have the week of Christmas off work AND we will be there for my 30th birthday!!! I can't think of any way I'd rather avoid the fact that I'm getting old than at DisneyWorld!

So I will have December 17th through 27th off of work. For the first time since I started working at age 16. I can't wait!

Well, I think that's all that's going on in our world at the moment.

My goal is to update again within 2 weeks!!!