No More Secrets

I've had a secret for about 6 months, and it was fun to have, but the cat's out of the bag now, so it's safe to blog about. 

Right after my birthday this year I decided it was time for some life changes, so I started meeting with a dietitian. Turns out I don't mess around with this stuff and now a little more than six months later, I've lost almost 80 pounds.  

This picture was taken on my birthday weekend, a week before I started my diet and about 10 minutes before eating the best chocolate napoleon I've ever had. I highly recommend the chocolate shop in the Bellagio, just saying. 

For good measure, here is the picture of me eating said chocolate dessert.

For the record, I thought this was a crazy flattering picture of me. 

And here are the after shots:

This is me on Monday with my newest nephew Duncan, who I affectionately call D-dubs.

I love that kid. Seriously. And here is my face, just for fun:

It's strange, most of the time I don't think I've changed much, but then sometimes I see a picture like this or see myself in the mirror and stop and stare. Who is that? 

I've been traveling lately, the above picture was taken in New Orleans, a place that I now love. I should have taken more pictures there but I was busy falling in love with the city. Now I am visiting Washington, staying busy with activities such as:

Dragon hunting with my niece, she takes this stuff seriously, as indicated by her face, and she is 100% certain that this rock is really a dragon. 

And baking cookies for my mother's achievement day's activity.

Because nothing says vacation like being told that you need to make 100 star cookies. By the end of this venture the star shape looked very strange to me. 

I love spending the 4th of July with my family in Ephrata. There are no city fireworks so we buy some from a sketchy looking guy at a booth that has the word "Discount" displayed prominently one too many times to bring comfort (seriously, why would I want to buy something that could blow my arm off at a discount price?) and then sit on our porch and watch the men in the family put on a show for us. The porch sitting continues as we watch the neighbors light all their fireworks late into the evening. It's low-key and calm and everything that I love in life. This year my mother and I sat on the porch and talked and would occasionally point in one direction or the other hoping the other would catch the firework that had just gone off. You never know where the next one will be, it's part of the fun. 

This weekend I am heading to Seattle to see the little sister and the guy she currently spends her time with. I hear there is promise of Thai food and a pedicure. What else does a lady need in life? I'm sure I'll be blogging all about it.