A monumental day...

Back in March of this year, I had my first Artist for an Evening program at the Carol Stream Public Library. I was super excited that I got to combine my passion for painting and library land. Pictures were taken... They were not flattering. Since then, I just don't look good in grey, period. BUT ALAS, I was unhappy. That night, and the night of the orange, were the big push I needed to get my act together and finally lose some weight. At the time of these pictures I was 170 pounds. This morning, after 5 months, I hit 155 pounds. 15 pounds in 5 months doesn't seem amazing, but it feels pretty good.

Okay, so the night of the orange.

Peter and I had finished dinner, and I was in a habit of eating something sweet before bed. Whether that was ice cream, cookies, or fruit. (What a terrible habit, btw). So we finish dinner, and I grab an orange and sit down with him on the couch. Start scene:

Peter: Are you eating more?
Aimee: Yeah, it's just an orange.
Peter: I have patience with you. I let you cry to me and tell me that you're upset with the way you look and that you want to change it. But if you want to change, you have to go all in. You can't eat an orange because it's there. You don't need it. You have two options, go 100%, cut your calories, and go to the gym OR be happy the way your are. I'm tired of this flip-flopping.

Peter has little patience, and I get it. Especially when your fiance (at the time) comes to you constantly unhappy with herself, but refused to commit to change. Things were tense that night, but it was worth it. I credit that night as being the final push I needed to get my act together. Since then, we've had a handful of more AFaE programs, and I think I look better in each one. That, and I've also learned to wear flattering clothing on those days!

Wedding, babies, and house hunting (oh my!)

Whew, can you believe it's been over a month since the wedding? I can't. Below are a handful of photos that I store from our photographer's website. If you want to go look, here's what 'cha do.

1. Head over to http://www.jolieimages.com.
2. Click, "View your Event."
3. Search for "Schindler-Marx" under event name.
4. Click "View Album"
5. Enter your email address, and the password is 626. 

Beautiful night-time shot. Easily my favorite photo.

Having a blast with my nephew Chevy. 

Why yes, our cake toppers were Baymax from "Big Hero 6."

Our wedding party. Can you tell which one is my brother?

One of the 6 million pictures he took of our shoes. 

Peter and I went to Cedar Point after the wedding. We spent 2 days riding roller coasters, and by the end of day 2 we were so bored of them. We were literally 300+ feet up in the air and yawning while the people behind us screamed going up the hill before the first drop. Ultimately though, it was a really great, relaxing honeymoon. We stopped by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before heading home. 

After the wedding, I stopped taking my birth control. So... that's been happening. We want to be pregnant by Christmas, though we're both pretty impatient and want to be pregnant NOW. I'll spare you the details. 

We're also house hunting! Tomorrow evening we'll be looking at 6 or 7 houses that are in our price range and aren't crap-shacks. We went last week too... but did I mention crap-shacks?! Because most of them were crap-shacks. We qualify for a government grant program for $7,500, which we don't have to pay back, so that's really been helpful. We're currently living with Peter's Grandpa (we've been there since late April) in Aurora while he transitions into a retirement home. He gets incredibly winded just by going up or down the stairs, and his eating habits are terrible. It's just time, he shouldn't be living alone anymore, and there needs to be someone to regulate his nutrition and to check up on him. He hasn't been sleep-walk-driving lately, so that's good. 

I really want to get back on a schedule with this blog. Give me a week to figure out what I'm going to be doing on which day. It'll be awesome. 

I'm here.

Since my last post (over a year ago), I got married. I quit a job. I took on more dance classes. I lost friends. I moved. I wore a bikini in public. Did I mention I got married?

Maybe I'll keep up with this blog. Maybe not, I've always LOVED this blog. So much has happened regarding body positivity over this past year that I feel like I let myself down by letting this blog die... For the sake of putting this on my resume someday, I think I'll revive it. God knows I have the time now. Only working 14 hours a week will do that.

My future with running

I've decided that after my 1/2 marathon in August, I'm taking a break from hardcore running. I've also decided that 6 miles is going to be my limit.

Last Friday I ran 8 miles (again, for the 3rd time during this training session). After I finished, and took my cool down lap around the track (which was excruciating), I laid on the floor for 15 minutes. Someone even asked me if I was okay.  I was, I just needed to not move for a while. When trying to get up, I laughed at my helplessness, as I failed multiple times.

Anything after 6 miles just doesn't feel good anymore. It hurts, and not a good hurt either. Not like after leg day hurt. More like, cut my legs off hurt. I can't describe it.

So, I'm terrified for this Friday, when I have to add another mile and run 9 miles. I miss enjoying my long run days, now I dread them.

I did it.

I can't tell you how a person can run so much, and manage to gain weight. Is it muscle? Probably. Is it still annoying? Definitely. Does it matter? Not really.

Yesterday morning I did something I've never been able to do before. I woke up in a slump. The scale jumped to 167 (yikes), and I wasn't happy about it. I trudged to the gym for my run.

I carry a notebook with me so I can write down my times, distances, and dates. Before I put my gym bag into my locker, I noticed I had a sharpie sitting at the bottom of my bag. Without thinking, I grabbed it and wrote down these few sentences on the cover of my notebook:

You are good enough.
You are beautiful.
The size of your body doesn't matter.
BE YOU.
YOU ROCK.
KICK ASS.

I felt instantly better. I went upstairs to the track, and proceeded to run my fasted mile yet at 8 minutes 46 seconds. That's under 9 minutes folks. And it felt GREAT.

This is the first time I pulled myself out of a slump without help from anyone else (mainly Peter). With my own will and self confidence, I was able to turn that negative energy into positive energy, and was able to fuel that towards my run. I wasn't sad and I wasn't upset. I refused to be.

bitch and moan

I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't a space for me to bitch and moan. I have my self esteem issues, but what girl doesn't? Some may be worse than others, but I don't want this blog to be a place where all I get (or want to get) is sympathy. It's not my styyyyle. I need this blog to be positive. Not for anyone but my own sake. Even if that means there are countless amounts of fresh start or starting over posts.

Last night was my final night at Rocky. THANK GOD. It was so boring... but now I can finally have a set schedule. The only night I'm working late is Wednesdays, and I'll have gobs of time for school and the gym. I have it all planned out. Meals, school, work. It's gonna be awesome.

Also, this semester is going to be a cakewalk compared to last semester. I know this because I finished all of my readings before the school week ended. I could even get a head start on next week... Feels good :)

3 miles and a Macbook

I ran 3 miles today in 32 minutes and 26 seconds. I think that's pretty good. Little less than 11 minutes per mile.

The past few days I have been running around to Best Buy and the Apple Store trying to figure out what kind of battery my macbook takes. It doesn't charge anymore and if I take it off life support it instantly dies. The computer itself works great, and even the Apple Genius said it was just the battery. So, basically, I'm saying fuck it for these reasons:

1. Replacement cost through the Apple Store is $129 plus taxes.
2. Apple Genius refused to tell me what kind of battery was in my computer, and just told me to Google the model. 
3. Problem is there are still 12-thousand different kinds of batteries. And if I google, "Macbook Pro 15 inch mid 2010" the results I get are all over the place. 
4. The Amazon reviews are horrendous. The few batteries I did find had 10 1-star reviews to the 3 5-star reviews. 
5. The only source I trust to buy the battery online is out of stock ($40 for a used one) or really expensive ($159 for a new one). 
6. I never move or go anywhere with my computer. It's basically a desktop anyway.

So, if it ain't broken, don't fix it. I'm switching back to PC after this laptop anyway.