After almost 6 years of marriage...

...We finally got ourselves a toaster.
I have no idea what took us so long. I think it somehow got turned into a game- let's see how long we can make it without a toaster.
Answer: 5 years, 7 months, 11 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes.

My husband was excited to have a toaster strudel.I took one bite of his, and that was enough for me. Reading the ingredients and nutrition facts on these things, will help you do just that.

And I couldn't wait to get my hands on a nice and toasty
BLT, with turkey bacon.I like mine lightly toasted.
My husband likes his burnt.
Who knew? :)

Can you live without your toaster, or do you use it everyday?

A New Size + A Switcheroo!

Today I went shopping with my Sister-in-Law, to get ready for our family reunion!
I was absolutely itching to get in the store, so I could try on a size 14 pants!

I walked into Kohl's, went straight to the ladies department, and started my hunt for size 14 pants! I draped each cute pair I came across, on my arm, to take into the fitting room.
It was weird.
It seemed like I was shopping in la la land.
"Is this really happening? Surely these aren't going to fit."

Once I had a decent pile of pants hanging over my arm, I took a deep breath, and decided it was time to head to the fitting room.

That's when my heart started racing.
And I think I even started to sweat.

I took forever to find a stall I wanted, even though the fitting room was completely empty. I was nervous, and I was stalling. Finally, I picked one. I locked the door, took another deep breath, and selected the first pair of pants I wanted to try on, which were capris. These were a little less intimidating then jeans. I held them up, and let out a chuckle. "You're not going to fit into these Brittany. It'll be okay if you don't"

I was surprised they made it up my legs. Even more surprised when they made it past the junk in my trunk, and I totally couldn't believe it when I comfortably buttoned them!
They fit!I was ecstatic!
Next, I tried on size 14 jeans, that created a bit of a muffin top.It was a little discouraging, but then I tried on another size 14 jeans, and they fit perfectly!WooHoo!

I've gone from a size 18 to a 14!!
I'm so stinkin' proud of myself!

These are the moments in this weight loss journey, that make everything
so worth it!
I wish I could capture that feeling in a jar, and eat it up each and everyday!

Next stop: size 12!

**

After all that shopping, I had an infusion appointment at my doctor's office.
I was on Enbrel, a once weekly home injection, but I've switched back to Remicade. Remicade is a light form of chemotherapy, given through an IV. The infusion lasts 2 hours, and I have to get it every two months. I was on these infusions for a couple years, but stopped last December, due to the fact that I knew we were going to start trying to get pregnant in a few months. In December I switched to the injections, thinking it would be safer if I got pregnant. As it turns out, studies have shown that Remicade isn't harmful during a pregnancy! Which is great, because I like the infusions way more then the injections! I would have an allergic reaction every time my husband gave me the injection, they hurt A LOT, and I just didn't like being poked every week! I'm going to stop the infusions when I get pregnant, just to be on the safe side, but at least I know that getting pregnant on Remicade, won't hurt the baby!They gave me the ever so fabulous, Strawberry Shortcake band aid! ;)
The infusion days themselves are hard though. You can get sick during the infusion. The side effects can range from having a fever, the shakes, headaches, vomiting, and all sorts of other unpleasant stuff! They're also guaranteed to make you
super-de-duper tired! Because of the fact that I haven't had the infusion in a long time, they had to give it to me ultra slow, to reduce the chances of me having side affects. Instead of taking 2 hours, it took 3 1/2!! I had a few moments there where I thought I was going to puke, but I kept my mind off it, by reading all of your blogs on my iphone! So thanks for getting me through it! ;)
The medicine also seems to put my mind in a fog. I took 3 wrong turns getting home from my appointment, on a route I've been taking for over 2 years!

Although today was a little rough, I'm super excited to start feeling the medicine working! These past few days I've felt like the tin man from Wizard of Oz! Now that I've been "oiled up" hopefully I'll be all set!

**

I also just found out that I've been given The Versatile Blogger Award, by Amy at Lite and Fit!!!Thank you so much Amy!!

I'm going to work on it this weekend, and be back on Monday to share!

Thank you again!
xoxo

I'm Rockin' It!

My husband was worried guys would try to pick me up at the gym...
I think you're good honey ;D

My bathing suit is FINALLY here! I'm rockin' the swimwear, and I'm ready to get in the pool!!
...Even though I might look a little nerdy ;D

I also rocked my weigh in today!
168 baby!
That's a 2 pound loss this week!

Woo Hoo!

I'm feeling a little sick today (Boo!), but I wanted to share a few things I have to celebrate!

First of all, we had a great, Deliciously Healthy Easter! WOO HOO! I hope you all did too!!

Secondarily, we had a great time visiting with my father-in-law!
As soon as he walked in the door, I announced that I was eating healthy! LOL! My husband laughed at me. I felt like I needed to just get it out there, without realizing how completely random it was! He was respectful, and supportive of the fact. While grocery shopping together, he would point out things that were healthy, and things that I should stay away from. It was kinda funny.

I ate really well when we were at home. When we went out to eat (3 times) I did pretty good sometimes, and not so good other times. But I think that's okay. The times I didn't do so well, I would try my best to make up for it at home, by eating REALLY healthy the next day.

I'd say it was a pretty successful week! I'm glad my father-in-law was able to come visit. I totally didn't need to stress about working in my diet while he was here, the way I did! I learned that you can enjoy visitors, and still eat healthy! Phew!

Another woo hoo, goes to my hubby! He graduated with his bachelors degree. He received high honors, with a 3.9 GPA!! WOO HOO! Is it bad of me to take a tiny bit of credit for that? Who do you think helped him study? MOI! ;D
Joking aside, I'm REALLY PROUD of him!!

I had wanted to wear my goal dress to my hubbies graduation, but I can't quite fit into it yet. That meant that I had to go dress shopping...I was seriously dreading it! The last time I tried dress shopping, I was 206, and it was a very depressing experience. I was expecting it to be much the same this time, forgetting that I was 25 pounds lighter!! It wasn't painful at all! It was quick, and easy, and no tears were shed in the fitting room. I walked out with this dress (in a large!):
My next big woo hoo, goes to my favorite Aunt, Aunt Flow! She is making an appearance this month!.... I'm pretty sure at least.

Hmm, how do I put this? I've seen glimpses of her, but she's not 100% here yet. You get me?
My poor blog readers have to read about me, and my period all the time. Sorry guys ;D

Last month, I was really upset that "it" didn't show up. Every day I would cross my fingers, hoping I'd have a period, but the month of March ended without a cycle. It was a huge let down for me. I just wanted my body to work the way it's supposed to, 2 months in a row. I had given up that I was going to have one for the month of April, May or June. I had convinced myself that having one in February was just a fluke. So, I'm pleasantly surprised, and proud of myself (in a funny way) that aunt flow came all on her own this month!! Since eating healthy, I've gone from having a period 1-2 times a year, to having one in November, February, and April!! WOO HOO!!

My last woo hoo, goes to my weigh in this morning. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to see, but I'm very happy with it.
My weigh in had me at 180! That means that in the week I had company over, and started my period, I still managed to lose 1 pound!! WOO HOO!

Even though I have a headache, and am not feeling so hot, I'm very happy, and pretty proud of myself today, as I reflect on everything there is to celebrate!!

***

Wondering what the heck to do with all your hard boiled Easter eggs?Eating Well, has the answer for you!

YAY!!

I Chose "YAY!!" To be the title of this post, because I have a lot of things to celebrate, and be happy for! :

Remember how I told you that I had some business I needed to attend to, and I promised I'd tell you all about it, when I was done? Well, I'm finally done!

A few weeks ago, I got jury duty. Big whoop right? Well, as my luck would have it, I got picked to be on the jury for a murder trial! Out of 300 people! What are the odds?! It lasted 3 weeks, and it's finally over! YAY! I had planned to tell you all about it in more detail, but I think it's smart to keep quiet for a while...

I'm happy to be back to life before this whole thing began.... and back to blogging again! Thank you for sticking by me, even though I've been a total blog slacker! On most nights, I just wanted to eat dinner, and crawl into bed. Towards the end of the trial, the judge ordered us to stay off the Internet, so I couldn't even blog if I wanted to!

During this whole trial, I had some :Deliciously Healthy triumphs, that I'm pretty proud of! :
1. When I first found out that I was definitely on the jury, the thought came to my mind, to go of my diet, until the trial was over. I wanted comfort food! But then I remembered, that life throws you curve balls, and you have to learn to work around them. I was determined to not let this curve ball, throw me off track! I'm happy to report, that over the course of this 3 week trial, I lost 5 pounds! ...And I'm pretty darn proud of that!
2. Everyday on our lunch break, we would walk around downtown Denver, and get lunch. It was a lot of fun walking around the city, but there weren't a lot of healthy options to chose from. My 2nd triumph, is that I learned how to eat out, while sticking to my diet! This is something I never thought I had the strength, or willpower to do. I thought for certain, if I had to chose a salad, or a big juicy burger, I would always chose the burger! It actually wasn't that hard! I just said to myself, "Brittany, you deserve more then a greasy burger! You deserve to be happy and healthy!" It worked every time! ...YAY!

***

My 2nd big YAY, goes to the fact, that I've passed up my first 20 pounds lost, milestone! YAY!!

Last weekend, the oh so beautiful scale said "186" Which meant I had lost 20 pounds, since around October- 09' when I weighed 206!

This weekend I weigh 184! The scale has definitely lost some of the beauty it had last weekend, but I'm still very happy with my 2 pound loss this week! I seem to lose 2 pounds every week. I wish it were 3, but hey, at least it's something! ;)

Before meets After...

Here's me at 206:
( This one's pretty telling, isn't it? ;)
And Here I am now, at 184! (22 pounds lighter):This is a milestone, that a little voice inside my head, told me I'd never reach. But guess what? I totally did! When I stepped on the scale the morning that I found out I had lost my first 20 pounds, I gave myself a little pat on the back! Literally ;) Everything has been worth it, to feel the way I felt when I stepped onto the scale, and saw that I hit that beautiful milestone. Those cinnamon rolls that I turned down, the donuts I had to pass up almost every morning while on jury duty, the pizza add I got in the mail that made me drool...NONE of those things could have brought me the satisfaction, joy, and the complete sense of accomplishment that I got from reaching my first 20lb milestone! ....No cheesecake in the world could have compared to the joy I felt when I got my period last month, or the way I felt when I got my very first compliment, or how rewarding it felt when I bought a size 16 pants!
It's so worth it! I'm so worth it!

THANK YOU
to everyone who stops by my blog, and gives me support! I know that my blog is one of the major reasons why I've (finally) been successful this time around! I heart you guys!

***

My 3rd big YAY, goes to the fact that I've been feeling great lately! I can definitely feel a difference in my knees, now that I've lightened their load! I first went on this diet, because I wanted to be healthy. To be healthy so that we can have a baby. To be healthy so that I can function with less pain. To be healthy, so I can stay far away from even more health problems, like diabetes. And to be healthy, so I can hold off on knee replacements as long as I can.
It's working. I can feel my body changing, and becoming healthier... I feel healthier! I realize more and more as the days go by, that the numbers don't define my journey. I'm a healthier person now, then I was before, and next month I will be healthier then I am now. But, since the scale doesn't have a brain, it neglects to tell me that part ;)

Eat Deliciously Healthy. Be :Deliciously Healthy.

***

And lastly, I tried a delicious new recipe! YAY!

I heart Italian food. After seeing one delicious Italian restaurant commercial after the other, I decided that I had to do something about it!

So, I made, Jumbo Stuffed Shells!
And it was everything I hoped it would be! :
You Will Need:

~12 jumbo pasta shells
~1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
~1 1/4 cups finely shredded low-fat mozzarella
~3 tablespoons reduced fat parmesan
~1 large egg white
~1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
~1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh basil
~1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
~2 1/2 cups low sodium marinara sauce
~1 tablespoon reduced fat parmesan
~Salt and pepper

Here's What You Do:

Cook pasta according to package. Drain, and place shells side by side on wax paper. In a bowl, mix Ricotta cheese, and next 6 ingredients. Evenly spread out 3/4 of a cup of the marinara sauce in a 10 inch round, or 11x7 baking dish. Spoon in, or use a pipping bag like I did, 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each shell. Place stuffed shells in a single layer, in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining marinara sauce over the top. Sprinkle parmesan over the marinara sauce. Cover with foil, and bake for 20-25 minutes.
**This would be awesome with some Italian seasoned lean ground turkey! You could either make meat balls, or mix it in to the marinara!

Here's What I'm Thinking:
~About 100 calories per stuffed shell.
**I had 3 shells, and a side of steamed asparagus. I rounded it all out to be about 350 calories.

***

I'm headed to bed.
Tomorrow I have A LOT of catching up to do on all my blog friends!
I can't wait to see what you guys have been up to!

XOXO

I Have Some Business to Attend to...

Hi everyone!

Well, something annoying has come up, that I can't get into right now. What I can say, is that for the next 2-3 weeks I'm not going to be home much, and when I do get home, I will most likely be physically and emotionally exhausted. I'm going to do my best to post as often as I can, and keep up with all of my blog friends. Please forgive me if I'm a little distant for a while.
In 3 weeks, I promise I will tell you all about it! ;)

I also have a little blog business to attend to!

1st up, I took part in Tiff's, I am Worth More Challenge!For one week, I skipped my weigh in, and instead, everyday I would right down a non-scale victory!
Here's the pic of my scale, filled with all my victories, that don't involve the numbers on the scale:I learned so much from this challenge! The biggest lesson I took away from it, is that the scale does not define my worth. I'm making so many healthy changes in my life, and just because the scale doesn't always reflect those changes, it doesn't make them any less important, less valuable, or not worth celebrating!
Thank you Tiffany for your wonderful challenge, and allowing all of us to take part in it!

Also, CBG Blog, awarded me the Beautiful blogger award! It totally made my day (which I'm extremely grateful for, because I had a LONG day today!)!!1st rule, is to list 7 fun facts about myself! :

1. I got married when I was 18.
2. I'm the youngest of 8 kids!
3. My nick name growing up, was BritBrat (Although I don't think I was a brat!)
4. I still have my Christmas tree up! I'm laughing so hard as I type that! My husband and I are even talking about keeping it up all year, just to say we did it! But we're not going to..or are we? No seriously, we're not!;)
5. One time I went to school with underwear stuck to the back of my pants!
6. I totally love dogs! I have 3, and would get a 4th if my husband didn't give me the evil eye every time I mention it ;)
7. I like to sing, although I'm totally not gifted in that area! People literally beg me to stop!

The 2nd rule, is to pass the award on to 7 beautiful bloggers! :

The Sweet Tooth Obliteration Operation

Bella on the Beach

The Chubby Girl Diaries

Project 365

Two Pounds a Week

Corletta

Ahh! It's so hard to chose the last one!....

From fat to fab

That was hard! I wish the rule was to pick 15! That would be so much easier for me to do!
Thank you again Jessica! I heart you!

Alrighty then. I must go get some sleep. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, and another one after that, and another, and another....I can't wait for these 3 weeks to be over!

Tomorrow I'm going to try and get caught up on everyone! I'm excited to see how you've all been doing!

PS. Thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my last post! I love you guys! Each and every one of you!

*****
This just in! Just kidding! I always wanted to say that! ;)
I have a post all planned out in my head, I just need to find the time to do it! Hopefully tomorrow, or Thursday! It includes a recipe (a yummy one at that;), the results from my weigh in, an award, and a couple other random stuff! Stay tuned to check it out!

Our Deliciously Healthy Valentine's Day

We had a GREAT valentine's day!Making a valentine's dinner at home, was WAY more fun then simply going out to eat! We spent about 2hrs in the kitchen making dinner and dessert. Those 2hrs had lots of laughter, good convo, and team work! Cooking with Joe, was my favorite part about valentines day! (to read about the rest of our valentine's day, you can go to my other little blog, HERE) Joe and I have decided that we're definitely going to have cooking dinner at home together, as an option on special occasions, way more often!For dinner, we made chicken enchiladas with green chili sauce!For dessert, we made ooey-gooey peanut butter chocolate brownies! (I scratched the cheesecake brownies, because they had coffee in them, and I didn't know what to substitute it with). These brownies we're DIVINE! Definitely ooey-gooey! They were slightly complicated to make, but for Joe and I, that made it more fun!Our brownies looked more like a chocolaty, marshmellowy, peanut buttery, pile of mess then a brownie, but I assure you, it was a delicious pile of mess! ;)

Sometimes I get my recipes from other places, but I change it up so much, that I think they're safe to call my own. Then I calculate the calorie difference between mine and the original. Because I change the recipes, I don't worry about copyright issues. BUT, I followed these 2 recipes pretty precisely ( I only changed 1 or 2 things). So to be on the safe side, I'm going to keep these recipes my little secret, so that a guy in a uniform won't show up at my door ;) They're in the, Best of Cooking Light cookbook, if you want to pick it up! Although...I have LOTS of changes in mind, for both of these recipes, so I may have my own version in the near future!

It was truly a great, and Deliciously Healthy valentine's day! I learned that you can still have fun, and enjoy special occasions without loading your body up with unhealthy goodness. You can have just as much fun, if not more, eating Deliciously Healthy! I love the peace of mind I had yesterday. I got to enjoy time with my husband, without obsessing, and worrying about calories, and fat, and how it was all going to show up on the scale! Those thoughts didn't even enter my mind! I went to bed satisfied, happy, and healthy!
Now I ask you- What could be better?! Seriously?
Oh, and we only spent $30 on the entire thing, instead of $60+!
LOVE IT!

The only thing that didn't quite compare to going out to eat, was not being able to leave the mess to waiters...
The not so fun aftermath: ;)
My calorie intake for the day, was about 1,400! Sweet!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's day!
xoxo

I'm off to catch up on all of you!

Happy Award!

My Blog friend, Tammy, passed the Happy Award onto me! Thank you so much Tammy!

This is my very first blog award, so it's pretty exciting and special to me! I don't know if everyone gets this happy over a blog award, but I'm truly honored!

One of the rules is to list 10 things that make me happy.

Here I go! :
1. My Husband, who makes me oh so happy!
2. My family
3. My friends
4. Chocolate. Mmmmm!
5. Knowing that I'm a daughter of God, and that he, and Jesus Christ love me.
5. Reading your beautiful comments
6. Checking things off a list. Whether it's a chore, or a goal, it gives me sweet satisfaction!
7. Being charitable, and helping others (is that 2?)
8. Going on vacations with my hubby, and experiencing new things with him. (That's 2 again huh? I'm bad at this;)
9. My doggies
10. The color pink. When I see it, I get a burst of joy!

The other rule, is that I'm to pass the award onto 10 others. That part is kind of hard for me. 1-I love all of you. If you're on my blog list, it means that I heart you. It means that I love reading your blog, you inspire me, you move me, you motivate me, and reading your blog puts a smile on my chubby little face ;) 2-everyone that I would give the award to, has already received it multiple times, as you're loved by many ;)
All of your blogs make me happy! Seriously, that's why I blog stock you ;) And therefore, I'm not going to pass it on. I cringe a little when I say that. Am I breaking the rules? I'm not meaning to. Is someone going to call me on the telephone asking me how dare I do such a thing? I hope not, and I hope I'm not offending anyone.

Let me also take a second, to express my gratitude to all of you, as it's something I've been wanting to do.

I'm truly grateful to all of you who take the time to stop by my little bloggy blog, and read my words. I'm always so uplifted and touched by your comments, and I thank you. It's because of you, that I'm not just talking to myself ;) Your blogs and your comments truly help me stay on this weight loss path, and the journey toward becoming a healthier, better me. When I step on the scale, look down, and see 120 there before me, I will have all of you in my mind. I feel like we're all in this race together, and YOU are a part of the reason I will make it to the finish line.
I was completely unaware of the beautiful community that is weight loss blogs, until just a little while ago. I had no idea of the support, love, motivation, and inspiration that was out there in the blog world, coming from beautiful women like you. It's amazing to me, and I'm truly grateful for it! I thank you for allowing me to be apart of it!

Thank you againTammy for the award! It made me very very happy!
And thank you again to all of you have inspired me, and who have given me support!
I heart you...