Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for...

• the good Lord
• prayers
• my incredible family (blood relatives and otherwise) and friends
• a roof over my head (especially with all this rain), clean running water, food in my fridge, clothes in my closet, shoes on my feet, all the appliances and doodads and gadgets that make my life easier than it has to be, my very dependable car
• my job, my wonderful coworkers, summer break, and my paycheck
• getting to meet lots of new students and their parents at registration this week...I'm praying for my new schoolbabies already!
• FriendshipFest right around the corner
• all the green leaves and plants outside due to the nearly nonstop rain we've had this summer
• umbrellas 
• a successful root canal last week and (so far, blessedly) no complications from it
• no pain (as of yet...say a prayer) resulting from pulling out a filling while flossing on the very day I had my root canal...try not to be jealous of my awesome teeth
• a great dentist and endodontist
• good exercise
• being literate, my weekly tutoring sessions, and a very thoughtful "thank you" present this week
• contentment

HAPPY WEEKEND, yall!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for...

• the good Lord and the countless blessings in my life
• my sweet, handsome, hilarious, level-headed, patient boyfriend who compliments my cooking and tells me I'm beautiful...he's absolutely the best boyfriend in the world!
• my lovely family and friends
• a roof over my head, clean running water, food in my fridge, shoes on my feet, clothes in my closet, a very dependable car, my dishwasher, all the appliances and gadgets and doodads that make my life easier and more convenient
• my job, my coworkers, and summer break
• getting to find out tomorrow who my new schoolbabies are...I'm praying already that I'll be a blessing to them this school year
• enough money to cover my needs and occasionally, my wants
• the fact that my very first root canal will be OVER in a few hours
• dental procedures that allow you to keep your teeth and keep them healthy
• a precious boyfriend who volunteered to sit with me during my root canal because he knows how nervous I am
• incredible dental insurance that is allowing me to get a root canal and a crown for less than $300...looks like I can pay for all this AND still get my washer and dryer...woohoo!
• my resolve to pay for my washer and dryer outright with no installments and without taking money from savings...it took longer than I'd planned but I'm happy that I stuck it out
• plans to squeeze the last bit of fun out of 27 before I turn 28 in two weeks
• a fun cooking class to go to next week
• a visit from Mom the other day
• a clean, tidy little home that's finally starting to look all pulled together
• happy memories
• patience
• cloudy days...apparently this is our new normal, so I might as well be thankful for it!
• being literate, my weekly tutoring sessions, and a book that's proven to be pretty entertaining
• FriendshipFest coming up soon...excited to be reunited with my friends and enjoy some time at the lake!
• plans to visit with Laura this afternoon...I've been missing her
• plans to see Kira and her babes tomorrow...such a sweet little family
• fun plans for this fall...Mumford & Sons (!) in September, the Lumineers in October, and Alton Brown in November...I love having things to look forward to
• contentment

HAPPY WEEKEND, yall!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for...

• the good Lord
• my wonderful B, and the fact that I have the BEST boyfriend in the world...he makes me laugh and makes me feel special every single day
• my sweet family and friends
• a roof over my head, clean running water, food in my fridge, clothes in my closet, shoes on my feet, enough money to take care of my needs, warm showers, my comfortable bed, air conditioning, the doodads and gadgets that make my life convenient
• my job, my coworkers, my students (past AND future), and the fact that I get a summer break (and a paycheck during my summer break!)
• glorious summer break
• good sleep
• early mornings
• safe travels for B and his coworkers while they're out of town
• the cloudy, stormy days we've had lately, though I sure wouldn't mind seeing blue skies again sometime soon
• finally finding the motivation to finish fixing up my little home...3 months after I moved :)
• a really, really, ridiculously fun Independence Day celebration with great friends
• a great lunch with Mama, DennyJ, and B last Sunday...good food, good conversation, and dominoes...good times
• getting to visit with Rachel at her new home last week...excited to have her closer!
• a celebration dinner with B on Tuesday night...we were celebrating the fact that he lost more weight than me during our Whole30, and he chose Cheesecake Factory...no better way to celebrate weight loss than with a big slab of cheesecake :)
• a fun dinner at Zoe's with Byrne yesterday...I just love her
• plans to see Kira and her babes tomorrow...very excited to have her closer, too!
• finding out that we got tickets to see Mumford and Sons in September...I've been floating around on a cloud of happiness since B called with the good news on Monday...so, so, so, SO excited!!!!!!!!
• seeing the school supplies out at Wal-Mart the other day...I absolutely love summer break and am not ready for it to be over, but this teacher can't help but get excited about back-to-school time every year
• being literate, my weekly tutoring sessions, and a good book to read
• getting to find out who our new principal will be tonight or tomorrow
• nice, long phone dates with Bub, Mama, Laura, and Kate
• contentment

HAPPY WEEKEND, yall!

Whole30 = D.O.N.E.

I meant to keep my food journal the last few days and then got busy and got behind and now, well, I don't remember everything I ate. And I don't want to sit here for 20 minutes trying to piece together my meals over the last 3 days. There are at least a million other things I'd rather do :)

Yesterday was the last day...we made it!!! Woohoo! We both felt really great and lost some weight. I lost 10 pounds and B lost close to 17 (I think). He definitely won our weight loss challenge, but I'm proud of both of us!

My plan is to stick to "clean eating" as much as possible. Friends at work, hold me accountable once school starts back...I'm serious! Help me keep from slipping! I'm not going to forbid anything, and I'll eat what I want to, but I want the majority of my food choices to be healthy ones. I celebrated today by eating a brownie with Rachel and a few chocolate chips later this afternoon. That was hours ago, and I still feel pretty out of whack. Bleh. Not worth it! Celebration over...lesson learned :)

PS---The brownies were quite tasty, by the way. If you're not sensitive to sugar, you should absolutely give them a try. I used Ghiradelli Double Chocolate mix and butterscotch chips. That's it. So easy!