She's Baaaaack!

Holy crap!  Has it really been nine months since I blogged??  SO MUCH has happened in those nine months I don't even know where to begin.  First, I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has reached out to me on Facebook thanking me for inspiring them to start getting healthy and losing weight too.  It feels AWESOME to know that I can have an impact on you like so many others have had on me!  That beng said, here's a recap of the last 9 months:

Summer was awesome at the Rutkowski Resort.  We had lots of good times with friends and family enjoying the beautiful pool and amazing (HOT) Chicago weather.  Definitely an AWESOME summer with TONS of memories being made.  We fell in love with our home and can't wait to live here for many years to come.

Fall was beautiful as always.  It's my favorite season so I'm a bit biased.  We hosted Thanksgiving dinner for 20+ people at our house and it was a HUGE success!  We also processed the first harvest from Wise Ambition Wines (aka our grape vineyard that came with the house) and it was DEEEEElicious!  I am definitely going to keep a better eye on the fruit this fall to make sure we can save some grapes from the neighborhood raccoon bandits.

Winter was mild.  We stayed here for Christmas (first time in 4 years) and did the family hopping thing.  It was nice to see everyone this year, but we definitely enjoy the new family tradition we've started of going away for the holidays....so, we went away AFTER them this year.  In January we took the kids to Jamaica for a week long vacation.  It.was.awesome.  First time taking them out of the country and it was a little never wracking at times, but so rewarding.  They had an absolute blast.

Now we get to Spring!  Carmen went to her first school dance and Cole is starting baseball.  It's almost time to open the pool for the season (NEXT WEEKEND) and thisclose to swimsuit season.  Eeeeek!  In preparation for Summer, I've been working on staying healthy and eating cleaner all most winter and I am happy to report that I am down 74 pounds since the beginning of my weight loss journey (October 2011).  I am hoping to keep up the losses, lose 26 more and hit 100 pounds lost by the end of summer.  I don't think I can, I KNOW I CAN.  The 2013 LoziLu Mud Run is May 18th and I am totally super excited to run walk it with my coworker and cousins.   Then, at the end of May, my gallbladder gets removed.  This might set me back a bit in the exercise department since I won't be able to hoop like I have been and won't be able to do any real exercising for 4 weeks.  Looks like I will be taking lots of walks this summer!

Hoping to keep up with this blogging thing as it dows seem to be therapeutic...kinda like a journal, but public and it keeps me accountable.  So, stay tuned, keep reading and keep messaging me how YOU'RE doing on your journey!  I love hearing from you all...

XOXO
M