Our First Anniversary

Dave and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary last weekend and it was perfect!  Our anniversary was on Sunday, but the festivities kicked off Saturday when I came back from a walk with Butler to find a box of chocolates and these!

After enjoying brunch on our deck, we relaxed until it was time to check into the hotel.  We had our wedding reception at the DoubleTree and part of our package was a free night stay a year later for our anniversary!  We checked in, enjoyed some champagne in the room and got ready to go out.

Our first stop was T. Burke's, the hotel bar where we had the after party for our wedding.  We had a $25 gift certificate, so we decided to stop down and have some cocktails before dinner.  We reminisced about all the fun we had there a year ago, taking shots and chowing down on Wendy's with our closest friends and family.

Next we headed to the Fox & Hound to have a drink with our friend Justin for his birthday!  And then finally we were headed to the Capital Grille for our fancy dinner.  When I made our reservation, I informed the restaurant that it was our anniversary, so they had decorated the table with rose petals and heart confetti and gave us a card.  We started our dinner off with the lobster mac and cheese.  It was tasty, but not the best lobster mac and cheese I'd ever had.  For dinner Dave got the Delmonico steak and I opted for the filet with lobster tail.  We also ordered some tasty mushrooms.  The meal was so rich and delicious.

During dinner I got to open some amazing gifts from Dave.  On our wedding day he gave me a gorgeous bracelet and apparently when he picked it out, he also bought some earrings to match.  Unfortunately I totally forgot to take a picture of them because I immediately put them on!  He also surprised me with these!

Our dinner came to a close with a complimentary flourless chocolate espresso cake, a small cheesecake, and glasses of champagne.  We had a wonderful dinner at the Capital Grille and the service was excellent!

The next day, after attending church and grabbing lunch at Olive Garden with my mom and Tom,  we headed to Xfinity Live to grab some dinner and drinks before the show.  The weather was beautiful and when we walked up the band outside was playing some Led Zeppelin!  We ordered the world's sauciest wings and watched people fly off the bull at the PBR Bar.

I had never been on the club level at the Wells Fargo Center, so heading to our seats was pretty exciting.  The box was nice complete with our own bar and a private bathroom and the seats were great!

We weren't sure if there was going to be an opening band or not, so when Joan Jett took the stage, we were pumped!

She sounded great and had a ton of energy.  Next up, The Who!!!!

They were fantastic!  They really put on a great show!  They played all the big hits, plus some deep tracks (apparently they wrote another rock opera before Pinball Wizard that I had never heard of), and they sounded great.  Pete Townsend was hilarious "I have the keys to the city, so f*ck off Philadelphia!"

It was a wonderful first anniversary and something I will definitely remember for years to come!  I am so in love with my husband a year later and I look forward to celebrating many many years together :)

An Exciting Whole30 Follow Up!

My goodness, there are so many things I have to update you guys and post about.  Our wedding anniversary was yesterday and Dave and I really celebrated in style.  I also owe you the next installment of our honeymoon recap (a whole year later... I know, I know)!  And my ode to Puddin' is in the works too.  But in the mean time, I have a special update for you guys!

Remember Leah?

I began to notice that my clothes were fitting better, but more than that, my energy level sky rocketed.  I honestly never thought I would feel this good without coffee and energy drinks.  As I said before, my energy levels were always so low, all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and sleep.  Not anymore.  I get up early, sometimes without the need for an alarm clock, and fall asleep at a decent time.  I am no longer sluggish during the day.  I also noticed that I had ZERO stomach issues.  ZERO!!

I was so happy for her when she got rid of her chronic fatigue, dealt with her stomach issues, and managed her hypothyroid symptoms with the Whole30!  And now I'm happy to share another update from her...

As I had mentioned earlier, my husband and I have been trying to conceive (TTC), but not really trying.  Well that was not the whole truth. After a year of marriage, we decided that it was time to start our family.  At the time, our living situation was NOT ideal, but we were both ready, so we began the process.  I have to say, this is for sure the super fun part!  Until it was a year later and we still were not pregnant.  I know that I was under a lot of stress living in a house with 7 other adults who had their own idea of how to run a household.  It was too much for me to handle, and as they say, being stressed and TTC do NOT mix. When we finally moved out of that house and into our own, I felt the stress lift and knew that part of our lives was over.  We were serious about trying and after a few months of nothing, I was becoming increasingly frustrated and upset.

Voicing my concerns with Amber, she introduced me to this fabulous book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility.  Now, when I say this book was a life-changer, I am not kidding.  The book is such an easy read, totally relatable, with amazing information about the female reproductive system and much more.  As I read, all I kept thinking was, "Why has no one taught me this before!! When we were getting the birds and the bees talk, I would have much rather learned about THIS than the standard, this is a penis, this is a vagina..." The book teaches you everything you need to know about your cycle, how to chart, and basically how to become in-tune to your own body (whether you're trying to conceive or trying to prevent pregnancy).

I began to take my temp every morning before getting out of bed and charting the other fertility signs (that I will leave that up to you, dear reader, to investigate) and I suddenly became aware of how long my cycles are, when I ovulate (believe it or not ladies, not everyone ovulates 14 days after their cycle) and many other things.  Weird things, like my sense of smell became more sensitive around my ovulation times...

Anyway, after a few months of getting to know myself, I began the Whole30.  I just felt like my body needed a reset.  And with that said...

A HUGE congratulations to Leah and her husband Pete!  I knew I had read online that the Whole30 has helped couples conceive, but I never would've guessed that it would be the final piece of the puzzle for my dear friends.  I am so happy for them!

And tomorrow is Leah's birthday, Happy Birthday Leah <3 

My (Delayed) April Whole24 Results!

I wrote this post over a week ago.  I was ready to hit publish and then our dog Puddin' passed away.  It was completely unexpected and rocked us to the core.  I intend on writing an entire post dedicated to what an amazing dog she was and to explain what happened, but I can't bring myself to sit down and find the words.  Her death still seems unreal and I keep hoping that somehow it's not true.  Every day gets a little easier, but it's still so hard.

At this point posting my results just feels stupid, but it's already all put together and it seems silly not to post it.

You know the drill...

Start   Weight  = 152.6
Finish Weight = 142.8

Weight Loss     =  9.8 lbs

Thoughts:

• Although the photos are not very dramatic, this may have been my most successful Whole30 yet!  I did not have any big cheats or midway dessert meltdowns like I have previously!  I feel very proud of myself and the discipline I was able to maintain.
• Like I've concluded before, cleaning up my diet helps inspire me to get to the gym and get more sleep!  When I focus on improving one aspect of my health, everything else seems to follow.  Hitting a bunch of PRs at the gym was really the icing on the cake guac on my fajitas.
• Tracking my weight added an interesting aspect to this Whole30.  I thought it would consistently drop over the 24 days and for the most part it did, but it fluctuated more than I anticipated.  I think watching my weight so closely helped me avoid eating when I wasn't hungry.  In previous Whole30s, I've consumed larabars, raisins, and dates while I was at work and I think it was more out of boredom or just wanting something sweet or snacky in the afternoon than really needing to eat something.  Although those foods are all technically compliant, they are essentially just sugar and don't offer a whole lot of nutritional value vs. eating meat and veggies.  I pretty much stayed away from them this round.

• I know some people are thinking... why do you keep doing this?  What's the point?  For me, healthy living is something that I have to recommit to over and over again.  I will fall off the wagon.  I will gain a few pounds back.  I will eat things that don't make me feel my best.  I am only human.  But when I feel out of control, when my pants don't fit, when it just seems like I can't get back on track... I know I can always come back to the Whole30!

Looking for more Whole30 Results?

• My Whole21 - Results! 
• My April Whole30 Results!
• Guest Post: Sarah's Whole30 Results! 
• Guest Post: Heather's Whole30 Results! 
• Even More Whole30 Results 
• Guest Post: Julia's Whole30 Recap!
• My July Whole25 Results!
• My January Whole30 Results! 
• Guest Post: Stephanie's Whole30 Results! 
• Guest Post: Leah's Whole30 Results!

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