My butt is no longer a dam.....

Okay so let me begin by announcing that on Saturday I met my first weight loss goal of losing 50 pounds. Actually I have now exceeded that goal and have lost 53 pounds. It's crazy to me to think that it has only been 3 months and that I've come so far already. I am now sitting at 222 pounds. My next goal is "One-derland" of course and I'm hoping to be there by the middle to the end of August. I decided at the beginning of this journey that it is better to make short-term goals that I feel like I can actually achieve instead of shooting for the moon and getting disappointed along the way. I can't even begin to describe how I feel. I feel.........great, energetic, happy, excited, renewed, refreshed........The list could continue forever I think.

My family went to Stone Mountain Park last Saturday and I was able to walk all over the park with its hills and inclines like it was nothing. In the back of my mind I just kept thinking "I GOT THIS". This week has been full of activity with yard work and swimming. Today we're headed to the zoo. I love that I can get my walking and exercising in by doing something fun with  my husband and daughter.

We are leaving next Friday to go on a 7 day cruise to Grand Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Cozumel. I am super excited about vacation but am also quite nervous about all the "cruise food", especially the 24-7 self serve ice cream that will tempt me constantly. But......I GOT THIS!!! I believe in this journey, I believe in myself, and I LOVE my sleeve.

Now to the title of the blog. Our bathtub is a standard bath tub, not a garden tub or such. Because my wide hips snuggly fit into the bathtub, when I would let the water out, any water behind me would stay there. Thus, my butt was a dam. HOWEVER, now my hips do not fit quite so snuggly. They fit quite comfortably. And the water doesn't stay behind me anymore. It drains out just as it should. All is right in the world again, now that my butt is no longer a dam. LOL!

AAAHHHH...........SUMMER!!!!!!!

I first want to apologize for not posting for over two months. CRAZY how quick the last two months have gone by. It has been filled with lots of really cool things, just a few of which are pictured here.

Easter 2011

Easter with the special ladies in my family

Me and my beautiful sister on her wedding day

My precious family......we clean up quite well!!!

 These last two months have been filled with.............

• Easter
• Our 11th wedding anniversary
• Jason's graduation with his master's degree
• Brooke's wedding
• The end of another school year
• Mini vacation to Pigeon Forge for Jason and I to celebrate our anniversary/his graduation

WOW......we've been quite busy. This week, summer school started. I volunteered to help direct summer school so that we would be able to go on vacation this year. The front end work to get ready to start was the hardest part. Now that we've gotten things rolling, it's not too bad. I work everyday Monday-Friday from 7:30-12:00ish and it's only for 4 weeks. These 4.5 hour days for 4 weeks are allowing us to go on a 7 day cruise in July to the Grand Cayman Isalnds, Montego Bay Jamaica, and Cozumel. Super excited about that trip.

And in the "weight" world, things are GREAT. I can now say that "I LOVE MY SLEEVE". Several people asked me shortly after surgery if I was glad that I had gone through with the surgery. My answer in the beginning was always "not yet". Well, yet is now here. I am SOOOOO glad I did this. My highest weight last summer was 285 and I weighed 275 when I began my pre-op diet. This morning I weighed 228 pounds. That's 47 pounds since surgery and 57 pounds since last summer. What a difference a year makes. I am able to play with Destiny without sounding like I need an oxygen tank. I'm able to shop in the "regular" section for shirts now, not just the plus size. I have lost almost 3 pants sizes and 2 shirt sizes. Overall, I just feel GOOD!!!!!!

Stay tuned for more updates, especially as I approach my first weight loss goal of -50 pounds (only 3 more pounds to go). This summer has lots of fun stuff in store including lots of pool time with my family and friends, laser show, braves game, zoo trip, our cruise, cookouts, and just chill out time. Until next time..........