I am almost finished with the blog…almoooooost. With any luck, I can finish it this afternoon. But first, I get to go to the hospital and meet my newest client who was born yesterday, and then I get to go to the doctor…oh lucky me! haha. So keep watchin the blog for all the latest and greatest.
In the meantime….I dare you to look at this collage and not smile :)
Happy 3 month birthday, Lillian!
I really do have good intentions of blogging every single day. Yet, somehow the days get away from me!! So I thought I’d do a quick re-cap post.
1. I am still going to do my Fit and Fabulous Friday post on a weekly basis….starting this friday..lol. Seriously. I promise! It wasn’t because I did bad, it was because I couldn’t come up with a halfway decent pic of myself for the day that I said I would post. Guess I’d better work on that. But so far I have lost almost 13 pounds and 13.5 inches in just 3 weeks. My doc wanted me to lose 7 (in 6 weeks), so I am definitely doing good! Can’t wait to share here more about that as my journey continues.
2. My new logo is finished and I love love love it! My new blog is almost finished. I will be unveiling both this week along with all my new pricing and product options. There is also something new (that I know you’re going to like) that will be added on to every session I do!
3. When I unveil the new blog, I will also be announcing a new contest. It’s going to be good and the prize will be worth participating! Keep coming back this week for the big announcement!
4. My sister had to go back to work last week after her Maternity Leave. It has been adjustment for me too, because I now have a new helper in the office. Isn’t she cute?!?
My niece Lillian will be with me 3-4 days a week while her Mommy and Daddy are at work. Her spot will open up at daycare in the beginning of May. So if you talk to me on the phone in the next 2 months and hear a baby…that’s why :)
5. I have lots more to share but will have to do it later….I’ve got a new blog to put the finishing touches on so I can show it to you all!! Have a great week!!
Yes, this is still a photography blog. No, I haven’t blogged anything photography related all week. Yes, I’m trying to get into the new routine of my new healthy lifestyle. Yes, it’s overwhelming. Yes, it’s worth it. Yes, I’m still getting work done. No, this post isn’t going to be long. Yes, I’ll blog more client sessions next week. Yes, I know you can’t wait!
Ok, so I thought I’d start a new feature on the blog each week, called…you guessed it, “Fit and Fabulous Friday!” Totally original right?!? I’ve been planning it all week and had big big ideas and then I went to Pilates today (for the first time ever). Apparently you can get a really bad headache if you don’t breathe the right way?!? Um yea, leave it to me to not know how to breathe and end up with a monster headache. So this post will be short and sweet and much better next Friday cuz my head is throbbing. But I had to post today because, well, I couldn’t come up with a catchy title for Saturday!
I had a great first week. I have been tracking everything I eat and drinking lots of water. I’ve cut out almost all soda. (I had been drinking – gasp – 4 to 6 cans of regular soda daily! Gee, wonder where some of that weight came from?) I walked and/or did the Wii Fit activities and lost a whopping 7 pounds!!
Soooo… here are some of my “Fit” Tips for the week…things that I’ve been doing that I know work…
Finally, here’s what’s on my “Fabulous” radar for this week….
One last thing I plan to include in this weekly feature is a picture of yours truly. I am always behind the camera rather than in front of it, yet that’s where you all are when you meet me (usually). Yesterday, I did a couple of headshots for Brian’s cousin and then handed over the camera and asked her to take a couple of me. I think she did a great job :) I need to learn to love this lady here in this picture so I need to look at her a little more often.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend!!
Katie
Just wanted to post a quick update to say HI! I want to thank everyone for their positive feedback, comments and private emails I received on my last post. Go figure – I actually inspired a few people! :) Sweet! I did it for me, but if I can inspire anybody else, that’s bonus. But enough about that…
It’s my slow time of year, so I’ve had a little bit of much needed downtime. Still getting plenty of work done, but it’s not quite as stressful which is nice after the crazy Nov/Dec I always have. Anyway…not much to say..haha…just hi! Oh and I love this boy! He’s cute. Just sayin!
One of the things I want to do with my blog this year is share more personal details about me. Sometimes they might be silly, other times, it may be embarassing/humbling etc, but I still want to share. So here goes… Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment with my family doctor. After Christmas I had some blood work done and I knew it wasn’t going to be good. Sure enough, it wasn’t. It’s no secret…I’m a big girl. I’ve always struggled with my weight, but I have never ever been this big. Soon after Anthony was born, I began a healthy lifestyle…and lost almost 65 pounds. Then I fell down the steps in 2006 and broke my leg in 4 places..had a couple of surgeries and ended up wtih a lot of chronic pain etc etc. Well, when you go from working out 1-2 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, to being completely bed ridden for a month or two…weight comes back on pretty quick. Then the pain kept me from working out and I ate what I wanted. Basically it’s all catching up with me now. So after a rather humiliating doctor’s appointment yesterday (I love my doctor and I’m glad she told me like it is)… I was told if I don’t get this weight off, I’m going to continue to be in pain, diabetes is right around the corner and my fertility is already being affected. Ok…whew… so after some tears on the way home…I knew what I needed to do. I came home and changed clothes…and then dusted these things off…
After some some grunting and groaning…I finally got my shoes on (when you’re big it’s tough), grabbed a bottle of water and dusted off another necessity…
...got in the car…and drove to the park where I proceeded to crank up the music and go for a walk. After 5 minutes (I’m not kidding)… my feet were aching…OMG…what have I done to myself?? So after a few more tears…I kept on going…and you know what happened? I started feeling better with every step. I could feel God (and my Grandma, who died exactly 8 months ago yesterday) with me. With each breath I felt better and better. Yes, it was just a walk to most people, but for me it was a turning point. Instead of going home and eating a big bowl of ice cream and feeling sorry for myself because “the doctor was mean to me,” I took action and it felt great.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of making a shopping list and ridding the kitchen/pantry of allll the junk. Luckily I have an amazing husband who is completely on board and said he needs to get back to eating better too, so he was cool with it. Then Anthony and I went grocery shopping after school and got lots of yummy healthy food! The kitchen is now stocked! (OK a couple of those items below are for Anthony’s lunch..haha) (Also, I already had tons of chicken and other lean meats in the freezer.)
I also spent some time online last night and tracked everything I ate….took some “start” pictures of myself (Oh Lord help me), took measurements etc. I wanted to share here because I think it will help me to have some accountability. To know that I just embarrassed myself and shared this with a lot of people will hopefully keep me headed in the right direction. I would love to hear your comments, tips, etc. On this post especially, please don’t read and not comment..I would love to “hear” your support since I put myself out there :)
This a.m….I’ve already been out for another walk…and it was easier than yesterday! I’ve tracked my food so far and am planning out the rest of the day. It feels good to be headed in the right direction to a healthy lifestyle and hopefully an addition to our family when I am healthy enough. As one of my friends joked…. (and I love it)..just think “Diet to Diapers!” HA!!
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
Am I the only one who can’t seem to keep this beast under control?!?!?
So I thought I’d share a bunch of random tidbits….because I can…
Here’s some pics with regards to the above…
Anthony skateboarding on the Wii/Balance Board…he’s actually pretty good at it…
Anthony & Daddy have been playing the Legos Star Wars Game on the Wii..I thought it was funny the other night to walk in there and see both animals laying with Brian and the 2 of them playing. (I’m trying hard to remember to take personal pics of every day life.)
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii……
Here’s little baby Scooby when we got him last January at 4 months old….
And here he is now….Such a big boy! I never thought I’d be an animal person but I sure love my puppy!
Since my sister is still on maternity leave, when the girls (From MN) were here, we hung out at my house a lot during the day to play Wii and I would work in my office while everybody alternating playing games and holding baby Lillian. Here’s Megan…the future RN!
And here’s one of the pics from bowling…
Finally, just a cute picture of my boy that I took tonight…isn’t he handsome? :) 
When we were in MN, I did a little photo shoot for my brother and his wife, Jenny – the bestest sister in law in the whole wide world :) We went to this cool little place called, “Murphy’s Landing.”
The Landing – Minnesota River Heritage Park, formerly Historic Murphy's Landing, was established in 1969. This 88-acre living history museum depicts life in the Lower Minnesota River Valley from the 1840s–1890s with authentic 19th-century buildings, demonstrations and a scenic river trail and overlook. Original site features include Major Murphy's inn and ferry crossing, the Pond Grist Mill, and a river overlook wall constructed by the Works Progress Administration. The mission of the park is to interpret how people, for thousands of years, have connected with the Minnesota River and its surrounding natural and cultural resources.
Unfortunately by the time we got there, they were done giving tours and we only had about an hour to wander around on our own, so the place was pretty much deserted. But that didn’t stop us from getting some cool pictures. Love you guys!
I spend a lot of time in my office. We’re talking about 2/3 of my waking hours. Over the past 6 months I’ve been blessed to be able to make some changes to my cozy little space. First…back in July I desperately needed to get rid of the yellow….so we painted it a pretty blue. Then about 2 months ago, my business was doing so well (thank you very much) that I was able to purchase a new computer. It was needed desperately. It has allowed my productivity to soar through the roof! I didn’t realize how bad it was until I got the new one. Then this weekend….I felt the need to upgrade my desk when my husband pointed out that mine was literally falling apart. I had had it since high school. It moved across the country with me and then probably through at least 10 more moves within NC/SC. At one point it even fell out of the back of a pick up truck (during one of the moves)..lol. So we got me some new furniture yesterday! We worked hard to get it all put the desk together (yes, I helped for 5+ hours) and at almost midnight last night, my geek squad (aka Brian) hooked up all my stuff….except there was one problem. My monitor was dead. Whaaaaat?? We tried it on numerous computers (there are many in our house..haha)…and it didn’t work on any. Well, crap. So this a.m. I became the proud owner of a new 23” widescreen LCD monitor that I loooooove. Soooo….just thought I’d share a couple before/after pics.
I can’t believe I’m even going to show this before picture… it’s awful..lol
And now…..
I actually have room to spare….the bookcase still has 2 shelves that are empty…. and the top of my desk has room for framed pics or some other kinda cutesy items. Unbelievable..
Thank you to my wonderful hubby for putting up with me and all my spontaneous projects :)
Back to school and work tomorrow for the Mathews household….I’m kinda glad.
Wow! Hard to believe that it’s 2010…where does the time go? We had a rough year in 2009 but also had many many blessings. I am so grateful to have a loving family and to get to do what I am passionate about every single day! I’m not big on resolutions, but I one thing I want to do is try to blog more. I love to read other people’s blogs so hopefully one or two people like to read mine. I still have tons of client sessions to share and hope to get those caught up relatively quickly. In the meantime, I thought I’d share how we rang in the New Year. Brace yourself…it was pretty lively :)
Last night, Brian, Anthony and I went over to my Mom and Dad’s house to have dinner with them and Diana (my sis), Ed (her hubby)and the kids (Lillian and Edwin). We feasted on the most glorious meal – thick, juicy steaks with mushrooms and onions….a yummy salad…fresh bread…baked potatoes and cookies and pie for dessert. Mmmmmmmmmm…so good. After dinner we spent lots of time laughing at the kiddos. They keep us entertained for sure. One of the other things I want to do more of in the coming year is take more pictures for myself. I get so caught up in taking pics/capturing memories for other families..I tend to forget my own!! So I broke out the camera and what happened? Edwin and Anthony started playing the game…"Don’t let Katie/Mommy take my picture!!” They ran all over the place….
After a little while, I got them to look at the camera and smile…well, at least Edwin did… (notice the brownie mouth!)
And then because nothing says Happy New Year like a 2 year old “beating up” a 6 year old…..Edwin pounced all over Anthony like usual. It’s pretty funny to watch. Note: no children were harmed in the making of these photos….:)
Finally, to add to the craziness we brought our new Wii console and games over. I get teased on facebook because most of my statuses since Christmas have said something about playing the Wii in them..but it is so darn fun. I think my current favorite is Mario Kart…it’s addicting!! I keep saying “Ok last race and then I’m going to bed…. (or whatever else I’m supposed to do)” and then I find myself hitting “Next Race.” Anthony loves it because he and I are usually playing together and then he gets to stay up later too!
The first game we got out last night was boxing. We laughed so hard. Ed started it out against Anthony….on other days, Anthony had beat me, Brian and Diana….but Uncle Ed was a bit too much for him! Uncle Ed won!
Diana recorded the action which should be pretty hilarious. Then she turned the camera on me….what was she thinking? haha….so I took a pic of her taking a picture..yes, I’m a dork!
The next match….Ed & Brian…I’ll let the pics tell you who won!
And then Pappy had to get in on the action…. he did really good and almost beat Ed…but Ed prevailed…
Diana and I played the last round of boxing, but I hid the camera…..I didn’t want proof of me losing to my little sister!! haha Just a few more pics of the cute boys….I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. We missed my brother and sister in law, but this is their year to come at Thanksgiving instead of Christmas (from Minnesota)…so we saw them about a month ago….but it never feels “complete” without them.
Happy New Year!
The presents are wrapped…..the tree/house is decorated….the candles are lit…the Christmas music is playing….it’s my favorite time of year!!!! I can’t believe that tomorrow is already December 24th! Where has this year gone?!? We haven’t had the easiest year in our family but we sure have been blessed! Today is a special day for me…exactly 6 months ago today I made a life changing decision (which I won’t be sharing the details of…) but I am so very thankful today. My life is so much better and I just can’t wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus with my family and friends! I am absolutely giddy…I don’t know who is more excited…me? or my 6 year old? haha
I’ll be taking some time off over the next 2 weeks to spend with friends and family, but will still check email and hopefully I’ll get a bunch of blogging done – I have TONS of sessions to share and I want to get caught up before I start my 2010 sessions! Response time to email may be a bit slower than usual, but all of the sessions are edited and pics are delivered…so you shouldn’t need anything anyway :) (But if you do…shoot me an email)..
Merry Christmas to you and yours from The Mathews Family!!!
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