DEBT FREE

Yep! That's correct. For the first time in my adult life I am completely debt free. I now own my car and both of my degrees outright! I paid the last payment on my undergrad student loan on Wednesday and I no longer owe anyone money. I cannot tell you what a great feeling that is. In fact when I checked to make sure I didn't have any thing on my credit card to pay off before I wrote the check for my student loan, I discovered I had a $123 credit on my credit card. After an unexpected visit to the vet this morning that $123 and then some are gone....but still I am debt free. I've made a promise to myself not to even entertain getting into a mortgage for at least two years so that I can save up a good down payment. But that is the goal now....work towards owning my own home in the near future.Here's to debt free living!!

out with the old and in with the new

The end of this semester ran me over like a freight train if I am being honest. I saw this picture on facebook and thought it fit my last few weeks perfectly...

No need to go into detail....suffice to say that some times working with people is frustrating and when those people are college students who sway back and forth rapidly between wanting to be treated like adults but act like children...well then you just want to stab someone with a fork, even if it is yourself :) As I wrap up this year I just have to look back on all we have done. It really has been a good year but not an easy one. Transitions are hard and learning new things isn't always fun. This year I have been putting the posters from events on my door, so it was fun to close my door the other day and just look back on what has been accomplished and the fun memories that come with each of those events. I think I am going to continue to layer the posters each year so one day I can look back on years of events and memories. Here is my door after one year...

NOW....out with last year and time to tranisition to the new year coming up. I finished out the semester by meeting with the newly selected Welcome Week Leaders/Student Orientation Staff. They are a fun group of kids...lots of new faces. I am looking forward to working with them this year.

More catching up to do...slowly but surely.

weight loss update

According to the "Myfitnesspal" app on my iphone I have been logging my food and exercise for 105 days now. In that 105 days I can proudly say that I have now lost 25lbs and 18+ inches. This photo was taken just two weeks ago...

Here was a photo that was taken the same week I started this lifestyle change...

And here is a mirror/self photo of how big my pants are getting these days...

So thank you guys so much for your encouragement in this journey. I am 1/4 of the way to my goal and feeling stronger and more confident with each day that passes and each pound that drops on the scale

Spring Break

Praise the Lord for a relaxing week of to spend at the lake working on my tan! It's been much needed and it's just Monday.

In true Thomas fashion I can't come home without something adventurous or rather something disastrous happening. Day 1 on the lake and my first trip out on the jet ski and we breakdown. We didn't have a cell phone and everyone we tried to wave down just passed us by. I looked at my dad and asked how long we would have to be gone before they came looking for us...his reply, "well hell it could be dinner time before they realize we're gone." Please note it was around noon when I asked this question. Luckily we were only stranded for about 45 minutes when we were rescued. I wasn't planning on being out that long so I had not put on sunscreen and here I sit on s shiny white thing in the middle of the water...hello sun burn! At the end of the day we laughed and we haven't left the pier without a phone ever since.

There is never a dull moment when I'm home. Looking forward to more stories by the end of the week.

advocare---24 day challenge

Well a dear friend has recently started selling Advocare in hopes of supplementing her income to stay home with her boys. She and I are currently doing the Advocare 24 days challenge in order to give a testimonial of the product. I did Advocare several years ago and had some success I just didn't like taking all the vitamins. I'm willing to try it again for the sake of a friend so today I started my 24 day challenge.

Days 1-10 involve an herbal cleanse so you have to drink this fiber drink which was really nasty....I can't lie. The cleanse involves 10 days of fiber cleansing and probiotics.

Day 11-24 involved taking 14 vitamins and minerals in pill form. Several are taken before breakfast and with breakfast....the rest are taken before and with lunch.

In addition there is an omega vitamin that helps promote heart health, a pill called Catalyst that helps burn fat instead of muscle and a pill called thermoplus which I have heard refered to as the lipo pill because is speeds up the burning of calories in your body.

All this to say....I am going to be a pill popping machine for the next 24 days. HOWEVER, all the people we've heard from say they lost 10 to 45lbs in just 24 days. If this will kick my weightloss into high gear I am all for it.

stay tuned for results...

something to treasure

This past October we hosted our annual Mom's Weekend event. This is a time honored tradition at Louisiana College that I inherited when I came to LC as the Residence Life Director. When I moved to Student Activities I continued to host Mom's Weekend for my newly hired male co-worker. This year's theme was Steel Magnolia's because it is simply my favorite movie of all time. It was such a great theme for the weekend! And heck...I got to quote the movie all weekend. I am pretty sure that I can quote it from start to finish. ANYWAY...a lady stopped me at the end of the weekend and told me what a great weekend she had and that she knew the author of the play, Robert Harling (Bobby) and that she was going to try to get me an autographed copy of the book.

Months and months have gone by and to be honest I had forgotten about this promise...but Mrs. Ronda showed up in my office today with a signed copy of the movie. I couldn't have been more surprised and I absolutely love it!!



It says, "I hear you are a true steel magnolia! All the best, Bobby Harling"

What a gift....what a great way to start this Tuesday!

weighing in

As of Saturday morning's weigh in I am officially down -17lbs. I am starting week 7 of this lifestyle change and it is true what "they" say...your body will start to crave what you feed it. I survived the 5 week mark where the honeymoon phase of this change was OVER! I survived having company come to town for a week and still made healthy choices. The next big test will be going home for a visit with friends and family, spending days on the lake and travel days in the car. I can do it! My goal is to hit the -25lbs mark by the end of spring break.