Wow! I'm starting to like having photos taken!

It suprises and shocks me. Some days I feel great, some days not so much so. Some days I make good food choices. Some days I take all my vitamins, some days I get half in.

And... in some photos, I look and feel fat... but then, I'll take a photo, much like this one.... And I don't recognize myself. I can't believe it...

I look....... skinny!

And its happening in more and more photos! Crazy!

Nearly five months post-WLS and I'm getting out and doing more things. I'm not hiding behind the camera, I want to be in front of it.

One measly pound from...

... a weight loss of 80 pounds! Yippeee!

I'm right at 191lbs on the scale... I haven't lost much in the past three weeks, only down from 197lbs. But its okay, I'm keeping my eye on the prize!

Tonight, I will be meeting my freshman-year roommate from college (circa 1997!) up in Seattle; each Memorial weekend she flies up from California to visit friends and family. I am really looking forward to the girl time, am thinking of drinking a glass of wine... but mostly looking forward to spending time with my old friends!

Hello, my name is Alissa - and I'm addicted to Perez Hilton.

Okay... this is off-topic, but can I just tell you that I love celebrity gossip... I've cut out buying the US Weekly, InTouch, and People magazines to save a little money, so I love reading things online at Perez Hilton or TMZ.

Its my little addiction, especially since my relationship with food is sooooo different!

I bring this up, because I'm dog-sitting at my mom's home for the next three days (i.e. connected on the interwebs!), and catching up on all the crazy stories (poor Maria Shriver!), and watching Real Housewives of NYC (catfights!); truly, I'm happy as a clam!

p.s. This week, the Northwest has been blessed with gorgeous weather (gasp!), and John and I had an amazing afternoon of kayaking in the Puget Sound. I promise to post pictures... is was a great NSV: I fit in the kayak, no problem!

"Fair food" - who knew?!

This past weekend, the weather was a bit iffy in Olympia, but I had a fabulous Saturday!

It was a rare Saturday, one that John and I both had off. It was a spur of the moment kind of day, so unfortunately, no camera. (Thank god for Google pictures, right!) We spent the day enjoying walks and errands: taking my mothers adorable Bloodhound for a meandering walk at Tumwater Falls Park, then to downtown Olympia, where the annual Wooden Boat Festival was happening.

(This is what a portion of the Tumwater Falls looks like, it is near the site of the original Olympia Brewery for Olympia Beer.)

Here we are, walking around looking at the booths and these gorgeous boats... and of course, I'm spying the typical 'fair food' of burgers, funnel cakes, corndogs, and soda. I was a bit sad, because in the past we would share a corndog and a big Coke, even a big shaved ice... With some super-sugary syrup.

But then, walking past the shaved ice booth... they had a sign. Stopped me dead in my tracks: they offered a small selection of sugar free syrups for the shaved ice!

We shared the most fabulous shaved ice, that looked really similar to the picture at the start of my post... And it was soooo tasty, and only $3 bucks! Sugar-free Watermelon, sugar-free Lime, and sugar-free Rasberry, oh my!

Its amazing, some days I feel so alien with this pouch of mine... then something small and simple will happen to make my day. That day, it was the sugar-free flavored shaved ice.

(A stock photo of the marina in downtown Olympia. This boat featured is called the Sandman; Olympia's most famous Wooden Boat, its over 100 years old and in beautiful condition!)

So long, internet. Helllooooo, labs!

Sorry that I've been so MIA the past week plus... Sadly, the free internet I was 'borrowing' from my neighbor in downtown Olympia, is no more. Hehehe. But I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to do it for over a year (even watching Netflix movies!!!).

Sigh. Back to Comcast or something rediculous. Having been without cable/internet/landline for over a year has really helped the bottom line, and something I will probably not get anytime soon - I hated paying Comcast $130/month for that package. On my paultry Starbucks salary... that is a lot of money for this girl!

Anyway, things are going well. I'm getting my blood drawn next week for my first labs appointment since the surgery. Honestly, I haven't been 100% about the protein shakes but have followed the protein-first rule; so I'm hoping it turns out okay. Its hard to do the 3 shakes a day, phew!

I feel like on some days I need a second stomach (much like a cow) that is designated just for protein shakes... And a third for the flippin' vitamins! Those fill me up too! I've been pretty good about my vitamins too, sure there have been days I've forgotten but overall I've been proud of myself. The only area there, that I really need to improve on, is taking my multiple doses of calcium and my second multi... Sometimes I forget those too.

So with my labs appointment coming up, I am getting that anxious feeling in my stomach.... errr.... pouch. I feel like I'm taking a test that I can't study for, if that makes sense. One that I'm hoping I will pass! That is truly the best way I can describe it.

On a positive, or at least, less anxious note, my scale has started moving again!!! Although the past two weeks I haven't lost a lot of weight, I think its been a lot of inches - because people keep commenting on it.

I did hit a couple cool milestones I wanted to share:

-I officially weigh less than my boyfriend, John. (I say official because it was on three consecutive days, so I told him that meant it was official!)
-I had to go into my smaller sized clothes section in my closet... On a whim I tried on the slacks I wore for my college graduation (10 years ago!) and they fit!!! Granted, I was overweight then, but I don't care. Its still a cool thing to say.
-Finally, third and most coolest - I don't weigh in the 200's anymore! I've been jumping around 196/197 for several days.

Overall, its been a good week. Still again, nervous about labs! And I just found out the family is throwing my mom (who turns 62 on May 31st) a 'Welcome to Social Security' birthday party on June 4th.

I find it funny and ironic because even tho it is her birthday BBQ, it will be my 'coming out' party of sorts as a lot of friends and family have only had updates on Facebook and over the phone - not in person! And the crazy thing is that it will be my six month surgiversary, as my pouch was created on January 4th!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the last parts of Spring. I will update soon, or post something wildly funny, ha!

Alissa