Name Changes

When getting married it is assumed that the woman will take her husband's last name.

For a long time, I was adamant about NOT changing my last name after marrying. In fact, I was engaged once before M and this was something the ex and I argued about. There was no way I was changing MY last name. It wasn't even an option. It's been my name my whole life and why should I have to change just because I got married? See, women taking their husbands' last names started back when men owned their wives. It was like transferring ownership from the woman's father to her husband. Since this is no longer the case, I felt the tradition was stupid.

(Side note, I also have a huge problem with being referred to as Mrs. M__ S__ - that's not my name, that's M's name with a Mrs. in front of it! I will make sure I correct anyone who refers to us as Mr. & Mrs. M__ S__ - um, no! I have my own name - it's Christy - thanks.)

I still kind of feel that way, but I have found myself thinking about it more. With less than 2 months until our wedding, I think I have finally decided what I am going to do. While I'm not quite as adamant anymore about not changing my last name... the thing is, I'm proud of my last name. It's been my name for the last 27 years and I don't want to change it now. I've accomplished a lot with it and I'm not really willing to give it up. On the other hand, I find myself actually wanting to take M's last name. I am proud of his last name, too. Having M's last name makes me feel like we are a team. Not that we aren't already a team, because we are, but having the same last name will just seal the deal for me. Also, if we should decide to have kids, it's important to me to have the same last name as my child.

So... there are a few options. Hyphenate? No, thanks. Although, the two last names actually sound pretty good hyphenated, I don't feel like writing all of that out for the rest of my life.

I think what is going to work best for me is to make my current last name my middle name (get rid of my current middle name) and take M's last name... Christy W__ S__. This way, I can have both.

I'm happy with that.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Only 59 days until the wedding and I still feel like there's so much to do. Invitations went out this morning.

Still Plugging Along...

Well, I officially have quit going to my gym. I can't stand it there. They still won't budge on the cancellation, but I'm still going to see if there's anything I can do with my credit card company. If not, I guess I will have to pay the 3 months I have left without going and just suck it up as a lesson learned.

For the next few months, my friend and I are going to focus on running outside more... and when the weather isn't cooperating, I'll run on my treadmill at home. Which, by the way, is OLD SCHOOL. Haha. It's M's old treadmill and it's definitely not like the brand new treadmills in the gym that I'm used to, but it works and I guess that's all that really matters.

Back to running outside. I haven't run outside since my police academy days 3 years ago. But since I'm running a 5K in September, I figured I better get started getting used to running outside. Monday was the first day. It sucked. I think I started out trying to run too fast and it all just went downhill from there. It was like I had to focus on learning to breathe while running all over again. I think I maybe only made it a mile before I had to walk. I'm hoping to do better today.

I received an email from a reader asking why I don't post weekly weigh ins or update my weight loss progress as often as I used to. I will tell you that I am still lingering in the 170's - my weight hasn't really in changed in the last month or so. I started getting very frustrated with this. I still weigh myself every day to keep myself in check. Every day is what works best for me, although I understand this is not for everyone. BUT, even though I have not been losing, I have definitely been losing some inches and toning up thanks to the running. I just feel better (I still hate running, but I'm getting some of the results I am looking for). Even M has been making comments about how I am looking like I am more toned. I no longer feel "fat", but I don't feel "skinny", either. I'm stuck somewhere in between. I don't want to get too comfortable where I am so this week I have really started looking at my portion sizes and I'm trying to make better choices. I usually track my food, but sometimes I may not be as disciplined as I should - so now I am making sure I track everything. The creamer in my coffee, the smart balance butter on my toast, etc etc. I do want to lose another 10 lbs before my wedding, but I'm not going to let myself become obsessed with it. I just want to be healthy. I am going to continue to make great choices food wise and I'm going to continue running and see where that leads me. However, I am NOT going to become so obsessed with weight loss that I don't let myself have a little bit of ice cream as a treat when it's really hot outside, or not forgive myself for eating a hot dog at a cookout. I don't want it to be like that. Everything in moderation.

By the way, I am loving these...

Just for One cauliflower with cheese. I love cauliflower, both raw and cooked. M, on the other hand, does not (he is a very picky eater... I feel like we eat the same dinners ALL the time because he only likes certain foods), so this is perfect for me. And one package is only 40 calories (Zero WW points for those of you who follow that plan)! Sometimes I will eat one of these for lunch along with 100 calorie mini bag of popcorn (which I love, also) if I'm not very hungry after my morning snack.

I hope you are all having a great week - tomorrow is my Friday!

What A Week, What A Week...

Finally Friday... thank goodness!!

I think I will be sipping on one of these later...

It's been a rough week. I was crazy busy at work with new problems that kept coming up and still was trying to catch up from being gone last week. Still not quite there.

In addition to that, we are still having air conditioner problems at home. We were told by the tech who came out on Wednesday that we should just consider getting a whole new air conditioner... starting at $2600. Well, no thanks, sir, that's not happening right now - we have a wedding to pay for this year!

It's also a good thing I had to get something from the basement yesterday morning because it smelled like something was burning down there. It was the dehumidifier. We'll be buying another one of those this weekend, too.

I had to leave work early yesterday because my sister in law called me sobbing. I could barely understand what she was saying. She had an appointment to put their dog to sleep and wanted to know if I could go with her because she didn't think she could do it by herself (my brother is out of town). Of course I went. It. Was. Awful. The dog is a black lab, 15 years old. She could barely walk and kept falling down the stairs. She has lost a lot of weight in the last couple of weeks and she had three big tumors. They sedated her so she didn't know what was going on, but it was just so heart breaking. It was definitely time, the dog really had no quality of life anymore, but it still sucked. I don't even want to think about how I am going to be able to handle this when it comes to my own pets. We told my 3 1/2 year old niece that Samantha is in doggy heaven with the other dogs and they will only have one dog (Louie the law dog... their other black lab that is HUGE) from now on, but my niece still keeps asking where Samantha is.

I'm just looking forward to relaxing this weekend and hoping next will be better than this one!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! TGIF!!

Catching Up

I was on vacation from work last week. So I decided to take a vacation from being on the computer, too. Hence, the lack of posts and comments on your blogs.

It was kind of nice being away from everything. We didn't get quite as much done wedding wise as I wanted, but we did buy the wine... all 7 cases. I think this is a little crazy. That's 84 bottles of wine and we are only inviting about 125 people. Plus, M wants to get two kegs. The way he sees it, you can never have too much alcohol at a wedding.

I also got the majority of the invitations addressed and we watched the example videos our videographer gave us to watch and filled out all of the paper work for that. I'm pretty much done with getting the bridesmaid's gifts. But that's about all that was accomplished. M still needs to get gifts for the groomsmen, we need to come up with a good gift idea for the parents... any ideas? I also need to go see the flowers that have been put together so far. We need to fill out the huge packet our minister gave us. Ugh... it just seems like there so much to do! I really just cannot wait until it is all over. I think every weekend is booked with something from now until the wedding.

The interivew went great - really great. I should be hearing about the job within the next couple of weeks. At the same time, I really have no idea what my competition is like... I just know a lot of other people interviewed for the position. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I think it would be a great opportunity for me career wise.

Our air conditioning also broke last week which was awful - the weather was 95 degrees. Yuck. It's temporarily working right now and will officially get fixed tomorrow. Unlike most people I know, summer is not my favorite season. I cannot stand the Ohio humidity.

Well, I'm off to catch up on your blogs!

Fourth of July

I have to make this quick since I still have a lot to do at work and there's less than 2 hours left until I peace out of this place - for the next week! I'm excited about being on vacation next week. Nothing special. We are getting some things done around the house, yard work, staining the deck, etc., I have my interview, and we need to get some wedding related things taken care of. Nonetheless, I'm happy to be away from this place for a week.

Anyway, 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. Not just because I like the parties and the fireworks (which I do), but I also love it because of the deep sense of pride I have for this great country. I get chills and goosebumps whenever I hear the national anthem or hear service men and women speak. I feel truly blessed to live in the greatest country in the world.

As most of you know, my dad and brother are both police officers. I can't put into words how proud I am that they have chosen to serve their communities and country in this way. Likewise, I am so very thankful for the men and women in the military who have chosen to serve our great nation. Their sacrifices bring tears to my eyes.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday. Happy Fourth of July!