Dude.

Dude. So, I weighed myself, just like I do every Monday morning. You'll never believe what I saw. Me. Yes, me. I saw 148 on the scale!!!! I seriously weigh below 150 lbs. I NEVER thought that this would ever be possible. I know I haven't been updating so much on my success with gastric bypass, but it's basically because it's become second nature to me. I seriously have such a different outlook on life now. Granted, I'm always going to be that cynical person who tends to overdramatize EVERYTHING, but I seriously can't even compare my life now to my life a year ago. Not even a little. A year ago, I weighed almost 265 lbs. Yah, that's 115 lbs more than what I weigh now. That's technically a whole (albeit very small) person. There are so many things I do now, I couldn't do then. I cross my legs almost every time I sit somewhere. I play on the floor with my kids. I sit on the couch with Darik, because now, we can sit together, and actually be comfortable. I play outside almost every night with the girls. I can eat just a little bit of my favorite foods without going totally overboard. You just don't even know the peace of mind this whole experience has brought me. Relationships are better. My frame of mind is better. I just can't even begin to explain the difference in my life. I hope that anyone reading this who has even had a thought about having WLS will not be afraid to ask questions...the first couple months were hard, I can't lie, but wow...for a lifetime of difference, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'm a little over 8 months out and I've far surpassed my expectations of the surgery.

Let's see...new news...OH, OH, I know about a new digisite that's going to be opening up on September 2nd! Can I just say I'm soooo excited?! It's been in the works for awhile now and it's been much anticipated. So many of the designers I create for are going to be there, and um, I must say, it's gonna be pretty fabulous! ;) I just took on a guest spot with Bella Gypsy....and I could not be more excited. I've "known" Lena and her sister Tabatha for quite awhile now, but only recently discovered their designs and I was seriously in love with them. Here's just a couple layouts with the gorgeous stuffs they have in their store at ES.






Today we went to the beach. I met a new "friend" and so did Emma. There was an obviously pregnant woman there with her daughter and the little girl was carrying a doll. Well, Madelyn, being the baby lover she is, went flying over to them going "baby, baby, baby." That sort of broke the ice for all of us! Emma liked having someone her age to play with in the water and it was nice to sit and talk with someone who had some similar interests as me. She was from Kankakee but it was still nice to have someone to chit chat with.

Speaking of Emma, we've been having some behavioral issues with her. She's not bad, so much...she's just out of control. I have to tell her to do things 3 or 4 times, she flat out ignores things I tell her (especially if it has to do with Madelyn), and she's been big on telling me "I promise I won't do that again Mom," even though she fully intends on doing it again. I know it's just her age and she's testing her boundaries and she's bored because she's ready for school to start, but mix that with a cranky Madelyn and um, the walls in this house get closer and closer. I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up until school starts...and we all know how well I deal with that

Darik just started working 12's today :( He was kinda sad this morning when he left for work. Hung his head and said, "well, there goes my summer." It's 2 PM and I just talked to him for the first time today. I've normally talked to him 3 or 4 times by this time of day. It's good on one hand, but then you have things like what happened this weekend. Every time Madelyn went up to him yesterday, she'd call him "Papa." We had to keep reminding her that he was "Daddy." He just kind of laughed it off, but I know it broke his heart. We'll just have to look forward to winter when he'll be with us 24/7

Well, I think that's all for today...I'm obviously chatty

Until next time...