I'm still here!

Oh...my....gosh! Has it really been since June 23rd since my last entry?? Wow. Okay, the thing is, I've been having the most awesome summer which is a very good thing. Rich and I have been so enjoying this wonderful Cleveland weather. We've been boating on Lake Erie, partying at backyard BBQ's, went to the Lynrd Skynrd/Kid Rock concert at Blossom, saw the Lake Erie Crushers in their new stadium in Avon with the kids, Boston Mills Art Fest Preview night with the girls, and more, PHEW!

Now, you may be wondering how the exercise/diet program is coming along. Not too surprisingly, I'm not exactly at my goal weight, or even close! It was so gosh darn easy to fall out of healthy patterns which were so difficult to keep up to begin with! Here's the thing: I am so happy right now with life in general, that although my physical self isn't exactly where I'd like it to be, everything else is going so well, that it doesn't seem to have the same importance as it once did! In the past, I had placed so much emphasis on my physical self and how unsatisfied I was with my body and how nothing but absolute thinness was acceptable. WHY??? It's clear to me that no one else seems to care how thin or fat I am (even the love of my life) why should I beat myself up about it? Does this mean that I'm totally surrendering to being 20lbs over weight? No it doesn't. It simply means that right now my priorities are enjoying life, being with the people that I care about and that mean the most to me. Part of my enjoyment of life includes eating yummy food, drinking adult beverages, and taking part in leisure activities. Right now there just isn't a whole lot of time left over for exercise and deprivation.

So, Rich and I leave in exactly one week for Maine for our wedding/honeymoon. I had wanted desperately to look thin and sexy in my tropical print sundress. Is it possible to look "not so thin" and sexy? That is what I am hoping anyway. Rich does not exactly have a body builder physique to say the least. But ya know what? I love every inch of him and I am sure he feels the same about me, in fact I know it because he has told me as much many times. He will admit, however, that he loves how I look when I am thin but it doesn't mean he loves me any less when I am not thin. The bottom line is...it is what it is.

I am so happy and excited to be going on this adventure and marrying the man of my dreams! I have many things to be thankful for and am so blessed. Perhaps, sometime after we get back and have settled back into a routine and the weather starts cooling off I will be motivated to once again get in shape.

My tip for the day is: Just remember: it's the INSIDE that counts! Live for the moment, seize the day, Carpe Diem, Dance like no one is watching, love like your heart has never been broken, count your blessings, there is always someone who has it worse than you, love yourself...you're the only YOU you've got!!! God loves you and God doesn't make junk!

Check out my Facebook page in the next few weeks for wedding pics!!!

Yours in Happiness,

Mary Lou