A blogger that I follow on a regular basis posted a very interesting Friend Makin Mondays post so I will answer the questions she posted:

FMM: Three Things

1. Three of your favorite movies:

-Top Gun
-The Vow
-Twilight series

2. Three of your favorite things to drink:
-diet dr. pepper cherry
-pepsi max
-smirnoff ics (red)

3. Three of your favoritie songs:
Do I really have to pick? I love music so much! ahhh

-God Gave Me You
-Dirt Road Anthem
-Te Na Na

4. Three people who have recently been a positive influence on your life (outside of your family):

-Today- the kids in the before care program encouraged me to do what I want for a change. I've been considering putting pink pieces in  my hair. Well today after work I did it! And I love it!
-This girl I go to Tulane with, she's awesome and I wish I had the drive and motivation that she has. This girl could inspire anyone, she's that awesome.
-A new guy in the fire department, I've mentioned him before.... he has recently reminded me to relax a little and to laugh more.

5. Three things you to do keep yourself entertained:

-play with my dogs
-play on my phone (games, facebook, pinterest, email)
-play Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2


6. Three things you’re attracted to in the opposite sex:

- Confidence, but not cocky
- Nice smile
- Being proportionate (ex: if he's super tall he shouldn't be a string bean, but really big either) (ex: if he's a large guy his hands should not be teeny tiny) once I went on a date with a guy who was super sweet but his hands were smaller than mine and he was a taller guy. Call it shallow if you want, but some physical things just can not be ignored.

7. Three things you love about yourself:
this one was hard for me...there's not much about me that I'd say I love

-I'm honest
-my eyes
-I have a big heart


8. The last three people who text messaged you:

-My friend from work telling me the pink in my hair is cute
-My new friend at the fire station calling me as asshole (jokingly) for making him want eggs
-my little cousin (shes's 13) and maid of honor telling me that a blakc girl at school showed her how to do the dance that she sent me a video of

9. Three things you’re looking forward to this week:
-going to the doctor to figure out whats wrong with me
-my fiance going back to a schedule that gives him more hours and more money...so I can stop stressing
-Thursday is payday!

10. Three wishes specifically for yourself…What are they? (Be selfish, and be honest.)

-to stay motivated and work the hell out
-to stay motivated and work the hell out
-vacation, vacation, vacation

11. Three of your favorite quotes: i have 4!

"I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new & exotic, those that are old & familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, & those that bring you far from where you started. But, the most exciting relationship of all is the one that you have with yourself, and if you find someone to love the you, YOU love, thats just fabulous." -annonomous

"This is an important lesson to remember when you’re having a bad day, a bad month, or a shitty year. Things will change: you won’t feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most. I believe you can’t feel real joy unless you know what it means to fail. You can’t know what it’s like to feel holy until you know what it’s like to feel really fucking evil. And you can’t be birthed again until you’ve died.” -- Kelly Cutrone (from If You Have to Cry, Go Outside)

"& i believe once you love, genuineley love someone, they become a part of you, and you're a part of them. it never goes away. like the part of my heart that has a blondie with french braids & a parrot bay!" --Nika Kliebert


"Go for it
Run toward it
Dive in head first
Live life with no regret
Put your heart out there
Don't be scared
You might get hurt
But it's all worth it in the end!
'Cause the best is yet to come" --hinder

12. Three of your biggest fears:

- failing or disappointing the people closest to me
- that I’ll continue to struggle with my relationship with food & exercise as much as I am now…
- that I’ll never feel pretty…

13. Three of your favorite TV shows:

- How I Met Your Mother
- Two Broke Girls
- NCIS

14. Three of your favorite things to purchase when you’re shopping.

-nail polish
-shoes
-things for my dogs and cat


15. Three things that you enjoyed last week:

- relaxing before school started for summer
- going to the shooting range for the first time
- naps almost every afternoon


16. Three things that you always have in your bag or close to you if you’re not a purse kind of person. 

- iPhone
- wallet
-keys
--I'm always so scared of losing these three items


17. Three types of food that you wouldn’t want to give up.

-pizza
-cup cakes
-smoothies
-string cheese
---I couldn't choose just 3

18. Three things you do to enjoy burning calories:

-riding my bike
-walking on  the treadmill
- playing Wii games



19. Three things you dislike about blogging:

-I don't make time for it, and only do it on occasion
-that many people find blogger a pain because of the captcha, so they don't comment on my blog
-actually no one even looks at this thing...

20. Three ways blogging has changed your life:

-It has allowed me to know more about someone than I would have never known other wise.
-It allows me to keep my thoughts in a safe place.
-I don't have to worry about the pages getting ruined.

FMM (Friend Makin' Mondays)

 My friend who has inspired me to be healither and get off my butt does this every Monday. She call's it FMM (Friend Makin' Mondays)  And I like the questions she posts, so here it is.

Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

1. What is your favorite meal to prepare at home?  Anything in my crockpot! With finals and work and volunteering with the fire department I'm so busy lately for much more than a crockpot meal. Last night was one of my favorites though: 3 Envelope Pot Roast, this was my second time making it in my crock pot and I must say it was YUMMY! We had that along with green beans and baked sweet potatos! I've been loving sweet potatos lately!

2. Do you like to experiment in the kitchen, or do you prefer to stick to the basics?  Not usually, I don't like to waste and when a kitchen experiment doesn't turn out as planned or totally unedible I get upset because I feel as though it is wasteful of the ingerdients.

3. What is your favorite cookbook? It's not a book... but I love most of the recipies I find on pintrest!

4. Do you have any tricks to share that help you reach your fruits and veggies goal for the day?  I like to have two cups of Light Strawberry Bannana V8 in the morning. That equals two servings of each! I actually prefer the Light version, which is awesome since it has half of the calories and sugar!

5. What’s the most interesting thing you made last week?  I made a butterfly cake for my great great aunts birthday. Everyone loved it! And everyone loved how my homemade icing isn't TOO sweet.

6. How often do you watch cooking shows on TV?
Almost never. Every now and again I'll watch an episode of Cake Boss or Next Great Baker, but that's about it.

7. When you’re hungry, where are you most likely to look first? The refrigerator, or the pantry? The fridge…

8. List a few healthy staples that can always be found in your kitchen.
Chicken, Light V8, water, apples

9. Are you motivated to cook at home even when you’re eating alone?
Yes, only because when I am eating alone it's because my fiance' is working nights and I have to send him to work with something to eat.

10. How often do you try new recipes? If I find something that sounds REALLY yummy then I'm likely to try it within days of discovering it. But unless I find something I really am eager to try then it's not too often that I try new recipies.



Now that my FMM post is done I'll talk about a few things bothering me.
I have walked for 30mins 8 days in the last two weeks to see only a 1lb loss. So tonight I upped the anty to 35min walk with 3lb hand weights on the treadmill and 10min on the eleptical. I'll try that and see what results I get. I've also cut down on sodas quite a bit. And when I do have one it's a diet soda.

On top of my friend motivating me to be a better me she totally made my evening by telling me that I motivate her sometimes! WHAT!? Me? Ms. Unmotivated motivated someone?! It may snow here is South LA tomorrow! Anyway I was pretty excited about that. Had to share it.

Also theres a guy who has recently joined the fire department that I'm a member of and my fiance' swears that the guy has a 'crush' on me. I say he's just being friendly. Plus the guy is 17 and I'll be 21 in a month + one day. He's pretty immature nut he's a really cool person at never the same time. Nothing more than friendship. My fiance' would probably never admit that he doesn't like when I'm at the station without him. But he's got nothing to fear. He's my one and only!

Speaking of turing 21, I can't wait! It'll be a 4 day mini vacation in Biloxi! After this crazy semester I need a break! And I need to feel the sun on my skin and toes in the sand! I do plan on drinking to celebrate this 21st birthday of mine with a few drinks... If anyone's reading this do you have any suggestions on a low-calorie mixed drink?
After the summer semesters are over my fiance' is planning another vacation! Except this one is 6days going to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and Branson, Missouri. I can't wait! Our first real vacation with just the two of us! I'm super excited!

til next time XOXO,
amee jo

Accomplished

I'm feeling pretty accomplished today =] I worked this working, then studied and printed my paper for one of my classes. After that I headed to campus where I met with my advisor and took my final exam for one of my classes. I'm pretty confident I did well on my exam. Guess what I found out when talking to my advisor? I only have 8 more classes to take before I earn my associates! yayyy! I'm super excited to know this! I'm going to take two classes each half of the summer and two classes fall 2012 and two classes spring 2013! Then I will be done!

Alright, I know yesterday I said I would walk on the treadmill and ride the bike... But all I did was the treadmill. I was tired after work and taking that exam... plus John kept me up later than I would have liked. Excuses aside, I did do 30mins on the treadmill on fat burn level 2! So I did have a more intense workout, just not longer... That still counts right? I hope so...

Anyway as I was about half way through my workout a good friend of mine, Brad, called me. Brad has got to be one of my favorite people! He doesn't frown at me when I've made a mistake, he understand $hi+ happens. Anyway he and Jared are refinancing their house and needed another witness. I was pretty excited, even though all it was, was me signing a paper saying I was there, I felt important and it was the first time I ever got to sign as a witness. 

Instead of getting ice cream, John and I went to Let's Top It...This is a frozen yogurt bar... Yummm they had my favorite-cake batter. and John had rocky road... So so so good! If you're reading this... What's your favorite frozen yogurt? Or low fat dessert?

XOXO,
ameejo

Back Into Blogging & Weightloss

I started this thing in December 2010 hoping I would stick to it (obviously I didn't). So It's time for an update to catch up on my life.I'll be 21 in a month plus some days =]
John  and I got engaged in January =D
I now go to Tulane =]
Since my last post Anna Belle didn't make it through treatment for pavo. But now we've got two great dogs!
Nina- our tiny 6.8lb yorkie baby! & Moselle- named after the town we found him in. We got them Feb 6, 2011.
I'm going to be a nanny! My cousin Brody and his fiance' Brittany are going to bless this world with a baby, and I'm going to be that babys God Mother! How amazing!

I started last week with yet another attempt at weight loss this time my goal is bigger and I have a really good support system. As of this morning I have lost 3 little pounds. But heck that's a start.
I plan on keeping up with the weight loss and blogging. Walking and blogging are both stress relievers, and anyone that knows me, knows that I stress, A LOT!

My classmate has absolutely inspired me to lose the weight and to be a better me! Her story is amazing and it's still being written.

I don't know if anyone will ever read this thing...and if they do, will they even care? I have no idea. But this is for me! For my well being!
If you do read this, please leave me some feedback, or not...it's up to you =]
XOXO,
Amee Jo