Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Ahhhh.....relaxing vacation! I went with the thought in mind that I just want to chill. Relax. Do NOTHING! I did that for the most part. I just loved it. The food was fabulous, the resort was beautiful and the beach was.....well, you can see for yourself.
On the flip side, the country is very poor and that was hard to see while we're relaxing in a 5 star all inclusive resort.
We did bring school supplies with us to donate to the local kids including back packs, laptop bags, pens, pencils etc. Our tour guide has a helper who volunteers for local school kids and asked us to bring anything we could donate. Since I go to a work conference every year and they usually give us bags, I was happy to pass those along.

The diet is still going well! The picture above shows the two of us 85 lbs lighter (between us). What a difference!

No vacation is complete with out a realistic view of my new favorite vacation spot...

Softball!!

I'm so excited to be on this roller coaster ride. I'm going UP with my exercise and DOWN with the pounds!! I'm almost at 30lbs gone!! It's very exciting. Now that my energy level has gone up, I've joined the softball team at work. It's co-ed and I'm having a BLAST!!! Prior to this month, I haven't played in several years, but I just love it. We're on a "fun" league, playing for the enjoyment of it, not necessarily the tough competition. The teams we've played against so far have been just as lackadaisical as we have been. I am a power hitter.....when I connect with the ball! Apparently I'm suffering from freakin' stage fright! I get to the batting cages and hit 18/20 balls. I get up to bat in the batters box, and I strike out! UGH. I'm gonna hit that ball if it kills me....

As for fun, Jeff and I are heading to the Caribbean this week. It's the work trip for him (honest!) and I'm looking forward to relaxing on the beach or near the pool for the week.

Vacation is almost here!

So I've been working on my "plan" for over 3 1/2 months now. Taking it slow and not trying to kill myself with exercise. While I haven't lost as much as I was hoping I would by now, I'm down 26 lbs and two pants sizes. Yesterday I went shopping. It sounds like something fun...right? Try trying to replace your entire wardrobe in one stop. I was buying one pair of pants and one pair of jeans per size as I dropped the weight but then everything else just started hanging on me. Think about all of the things you put on every day and now you can't wear them because they are literally falling off of you. I won't tell you what I had to spend to replace most items, but I only bought casual clothes. I'm going to the Caribbean next week and it was shorts, t-shirts and YES - bathing suits on the list! I am so excited to be going and relaxing on the beach and by the pool. It's been a trying year so far and I am looking forward to the "do nothing" attitude.

Is it really worth two black eyes?

I've stopped walking. Crazy....right? Well, actually I'm starting to do a bit more. I'm jogging. Don't laugh! It's very difficult for a large breasted woman to jog! I am finding that the walking just wasn't enough and I wanted to get my heart rate up a it more. Now I have to be careful of the black eyes that usually come with jogging. LOL

Wish me luck?