Life is a Beach!

Alright, I know we went on our cruise almost a month ago, but it is not easy for me to find time to get on here to tell everyone how wonderful our trip was! I could seriously get addicted to beach vacations like that! The weather was PERFECT, the water was 80 degrees and the sand was white, soft and beautiful! It was paradise. I have TONS of pictures that I will post but I'll give you a recap of our wonderful trip, one post at a time :)!
Well our flight to Tampa was about 6 hours long...we left bright and early 6:30 AM and was in Tampa headed to our cool hotel by 4:20 PM. The second we walked out of the airport the humidity hit us like a ton of bricks! I couldn't believe that people could even live in those conditions LOL. I literally felt like I couldn't breathe. But after a few hours I was used to it. We waited for Rachel and Matt to get in from Louisiana but they ran into awful traffic and didn't get in until after midnight so Spencer and I spent the evening at the Tampa mall drooling over the expensive Prada, Gucci, Chanel...purses, jewelry, clothes and stuff at Saks....then we went to a movie to burn some time, we saw Date Night, that is a pretty cute movie after the movie we walked around Tampa a bit, went to the liquor store and then ordered some pizza and watched TV in our big comfy bed at the Intercontinental Hotel!
The next morning we finally got to see Rachel and Matt...it was the first time I'd seen her in 10 years! She is still as itty bitty as she was 10 years ago LOL. We talked a bit, ate breakfast then after we headed to the port to check in and hop aboard our fun ship! If you could've seen our faces when we all saw the ship you would've laughed, we were amazed! We had never seen a cruise ship before and had no idea how huge it would be. As we were walking to the check in I got anxiety all of the sudden...what if I forgot my birth certificate? What if I lost my paperwork or ID? What if we get turned away for some reason?? But we moved right on through the lines with no problem and was on the ship within 40 minutes of getting to the port. By noon we were sitting on the Lido deck enjoying a daiquiri! It was super hot and people were eating at the buffet, other's were smart and were already in their swim suits and laying on the deck gettin some sun. We just walked around and took a tour and was amazed at the fact that we were in Florida, on a ship, getting ready to head into the Carribbean!
We sat around for a while, and got everything moved into our rooms and was settled and grabbed some lunch by about 3 then we walked up to the top to get a good spot to watch as we departed Tampa and set sail. It was amazing to see the land get further and further away and slowly see nothing around us but pure blue ocean! Once we were out for a while, the music started, the drinks were flowing and the fun began....
so I don't have time to finish and the site is not letting me upload pics as fast as I'd like....so I promise I will get on ASAP and finish the story and post some more pics(as if there are even people reading this LOL)

Family Pics!!!

Well thanks to the talented Clique Photography and an awesome contest we won, we got some wonderful family pictures taken about a month ago! I know it's taking me forever to update and get things on here, but give a girl a break! I have 3 kids, a full time job and a house to run! :) So not much more to say than these guys were great to work with and they did a great job! We will definitely be getting more pictures done with them in the future and I strongly recommend anyone else who is wanting to get some done give these guys a call!!

The Countdown is over!!!

Woot Woot!!! The countdown is over, the day is finally here..well pretty much! We are leaving in the morning for Florida so we can hop aboard the Carnival Inspiration on Saturday!! I am sooooo excited! Seems like time has gone by so fast, I can't believe it's already here....so I guess I can update everyone on life the past month or so since I've slacked big time in the blogging department....
Ummm...ok, #1: Weight Loss: Since my last post about my weight loss I have dropped another 16 lbs! A grand total of 36 lbs since January and about 75 lbs in about a year . Exciting right?! I'm pretty happy. I had a goal weight in mind, and I did not make it though :( I am about 5 lbs away from it, not too far, so I am still stoked and proud of myself. How did I drop the last 16 lbs? No, it was not exercise and sensible diet...I felt a time crunch and resorted in a drastic diet. I did the HCG diet, for those of you who are familiar...WOW, it is rough. Not sure I would do it again. I know it works, i dropped not only 16 lbs but about 11 inches off of my body. It really works, but it is the most mentally challenging diet I have ever done. I thought 500 calories a day would be the hard part, but I almost NEVER ate the full 500 calories...was it because I wasn't hungry?? NO, it was because I was SOOOO tired of dry chicken and gross veggies...ugh, the thought of cucumbers makes me dry heave! BLAH! LOL. I'm glad I did it, it made swim suit shopping much more fun and I actually bought shorts! Yes, I said it, SHORTS...I haven't worn shorts in 6 years!!! I wear them now and don't think twice about it. I'm not skinny by any means, but I'm more comfortable in my own skin and that's what matters. I'm crossing my fingers I don't gain much back while on the cruise with all the food I can eat 24 hours a day...guess we'll see.
ok...ummm #2: the rest of my life :) Not much extremely exciting has been going on. Life has been busy with work, soccer and just having 3 small kids. In March I had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco for work. It was awesome. I've never been flown somewhere for work before. I felt like such a grown up LOL. I only got to catch a glimpse of all that San Fran has to offer and it has definitely made me want to go back with Spencer and the family. I may be travelling to North Carolina for work in the near future since the position I hold at work has me working with teams in that location and my boss is there also, I'll finally get to meet my boss.
We(me, Spencer and my mom) all just had our birthdays in the past week and a half...nothing too exciting there....not near as exciting as it was when I was a kid :) But that's ok, Lexy will be turning 1 in 2 weeks!!! Can you believe that? Where has the past year gone? I have her birthday party all planned out, just a BBQ at our house and she has the cutest lil outfit she'll be wearing....I will have plenty of pics!Everything else that has gone on the past few months kind of blends in, nothing too exciting sticks out....
So we will be back from paradise in a week, I will be sure to post PLENTY of pics! And Lexy's birthday party is in 2 weeks and I will also have TONS of pics of her cute lil outfit :)

Check out this website!!

Hey everyone! So a new friend of mine began doing my nails and showed me her wedding pics and I fell in LOVE with them! They are amazing and I am dying to have these people take my family pictures! So I thought I'd share with everyone the name of the studio and direct you to their site to check it out for yourself! I'm also attempting to win a free mini session...so not only am I helpin you out by showing you who to call the next time you want some wonderful pics taken...but I'm tryin to help myself out a little :)
So...it's Clique Photography and here is their site: http://www.clique-photography.com/ their blog is also on my friend list...check em out!!!

I'll be back soon with some more posts...I broke my camera a while back so I really don't have any pics to post and I know that's all anyone cares to see anyways! :) But as soon as I get some time I'll update everyone on life and Easter and everything else going on at the Mataele household!!!

Update...continued

***UPDATE***
Ok, so due to your requests, I have taken a pic of my current self. It's not the greatest since it's in my bathroom with my telephone LOL. And also..I HATE taking pics of myself...I feel like an idiot..none the less...here is a current pic.

An update...

Well we are down to something like 60 days before we cruise and I have been workin hard to get my body bikini ready...unfortunately I still have a ways to go but I am happy to report my progress so far! Since having Lexy on May 31, 2009 I have lost about 60 lbs!!! It's crazy to me to think I have dropped that much weight, but at the same time, it's depressing to know I still have about 20 lbs to go before I'm at a healthy weight and it's also sad to think that I let myself get that big in the first place. Granted, I've been pregnant like 30 months out of the last 4 1/2 years, but still...Either way, I'm working hard and trying my best to drop another 20 lbs in 60 days. I'm not sure if it will happen, but I will definitely keep trying!
So you may wonder how I've lost my weight...well it's a combination of a few things....most important- my diet! YES! I have cut out my beloved Diet Coke! After 20+ years of drinking at least 20 oz a day, I can say that I no longer depend on my daily dose to keep me going. I can't say I haven't had any, but I probably can count on one hand how many times I've had one in the last 3 months. I am now a water only person. I may have an occasional french vanilla cappuccino but that's very rare.
Also, I have cut out my trips to the vending machine for the afternoon boredom munchies. I make sure I eat every 2-3 hours and keep my daily calorie intake under 1200 calories. Now, this does not mean I haven't had french fries or pizza...it just means I have cut that WAY down and hold myself accountable for it. If I really want 700 calories worth of pizza, then that means the rest of my day will probably consist of fruit and water. LOL.

Just as important as my diet, I have gotten my butt up and started exercising! At first I wasn't exercising at all and still dropping weight, then it all came to a halt. I quickly realized that diet and exercise go hand in hand and results will nly happen if you are doing both. So I began doing work out videos at home since it's pretty much impossible to get to the gym working full time and taking care of my three babies at night. So the last few weeks I have been doing a Jillian Michaels work out...WOW, she kicks my butt EVERY time. So since January, I have lost almost 20 lbs!! I am happy, but like I said earlier...still have a ways to go and time is ticking! I won't let myself buy any summer clothes or a swim suit until May. I did go shopping over the weekend for some work clothes...I am happy to say I officially wear 1-2 sizes smaller than I did in January! Shopping isn't so bad after all...hopefully I will enjoy it more in May!
So I don't have before and after pics or even a full body pic of me right now, but here is a glimpse of me right now....my face is always the first place to show my weight....loss and gain...so have a peek....I'll post plenty of pics of myself from the cruise in 2 months LOL

The countdown is on...

Well....we've talked about doing this for a few years now and something else always comes up. But this time, we have FINALLY done it! We have booked and paid for a cruise to the Western Caribbean! I cannot tell you how excited we are! And to top it off, my best friend that I haven't seen in 10 years will be joining us and staying in the room next to us with her boyfriend! How crazy is that??? It will be our first cruise! It has been all I can think about or talk about since we booked it! We will set for Tampa, FL on May 21 and set sail on May 22. We will head to Cozumel Mexico and The Cayman Islands, we will be out to see for 5 days! Of course, the only hesitation I have is leaving my babies....I have yet to leave them for 24 hours....it will be hard I'm sure...but it's much needed! Luckily I have the best sister in law ever and she is going to be watching them the whole time and I know they will be in good hands and having a blast with their cousins!
So now I've hit the diet and exercise even harder than before, in the last month and a half I have lost over 10 lbs! I have about 25 or so more to go before I will be ready to sport that swim suit in May! But I know I'll get there! 93 days to go!