Yay for fall!!!

So, I guess I have some news since last time I posted....

I'M NOW A MARRIED WOMAN!!!! :) Matt and I got married about three weeks ago, on September 24, at Sleepy Hollow Inn in Asheville, NC. We had a beautiful wedding, it was the most perfect day ever, and everything went off without a hitch...well...I suppose the only thing that went wrong was my family not being able to find us at Mt. Mitchell for the rehearsal dinner the night before...but...other than that, all went well. My mom, best friend/matron of honor and myself, all drank champagne while the hair and makeup ladies came to Sleepy Hollow to get us all beautiful for the big day. Our wedding coordinator took care of EVERYTHING, including getting our plates ready for us at the reception, along with having beers ready for us as soon as we got to the reception. The pictures were perfect, everything about it was perfect. I would highly recommend it to anybody getting married. I also LOVED getting to spend time with our families and close friends, and had a great Bachelorette party a couple nights before the wedding, which included lots of karaoke and an 80s theme. I also love, love, LOVED getting to see my sweet, sweet niece, Lydia who is now 6 months old. She has gotten SO big, and is absolutely the sweetest, most amazingly perfect little baby. She was an absolute ANGEL during the entire ceremony, and I loved getting to cuddle with her the morning of my wedding. I just wish I got to see her more often.

I'm currently in the process of legally/officially changing everything over to my new name, Jones. It's changed with the social security office, my bank, car insurance, and credit card, just have to get my new driver's license and a few more things then I should be good to go. I'm almost there!!

And to mark this transition in my life, I thought it would be fun to do a second blog (one that hopefully will get updated more regularly than this one) chronicling our newlywed days. We are going on our honeymoon to Savannah in less than two weeks, I am sure I will have a ton to post after the honeymoon!

Blessings to all!

Happy 4th of July!

I suppose that since the last time I updated this blog was in April, it's about time to update it!
First off, I just wanted to wish everybody a very safe and healthy 4th of July. I hope everybody had an amazing holiday weekend :)

Let's start with May...other than attending my ten year (holy crap, really?!?!) high school reunion, the only other thing of significant importance was that Matt moved in with me! Very exciting NOT to have to drive to Wilmington a couple of times a month now. I also took care of getting licenses for counseling board and substance abuse board taken care of.

June seemed to just FLY by! We celebrated Matt's 32nd birthday in June. Also in June, we spent a day hiking at Pilot Mountain State Park, and the last weekend of June, took a day trip to Hanging Rock State Park to go hiking. It is SO very nice having both of these state parks in such close proximity!

On a completely unrelated note, I am continuing my workouts with my trainer, and to date, have lost 4% body fat, about 10 inches, and 8 pounds. It is amazing the stamina I feel when I'm training with her, or hiking, for that matter. I'm able to tackle difficult hikes without getting winded like I used to. Also, I'm beginning to notice muscles that I didn't know I had! Just the other day, I was in a Zumba class and noticed that my legs are beginning to show cut and definition....who knew?! So that has been a very exciting part of my journey, thus far.

Another exciting thing, is I've decided to sell Avon on the side. So far, it has been about a month and I have not had any sales...BUT then again, I knew this would be a slow, gradual thing for me. It may be another couple of months before I can really get into it, as I'm also wedding planning right now. At this point in my life, I don't have that much time/energy to focus on putting everything into this, I'm going to do it slowly, by baby steps. If nothing else, I will be able to order things for myself or gifts for family/friends at discounted prices, so you can't beat that. I just thought it would be fun to try my hand at something new...we'll see.

Matt and I went camping this past weekend at Stone Mountain State Park. It was our first camping trip together, and also Coleman's first camping trip EVER! Coleman did great, but is very tired right now. I'd never been to Stone Mountain, and decided to check it out on recommendation of a sorority sister, actually :) We did three hikes, and spent two nights there. My only advice if you camp there: try to avoid loop C. That's where we camped, and there was no trees or shade. It was very hot, and we didn't have a canopy to provide some shade...lesson learned on that one :) Other than that, we had a blast, and have decided we are going to camp as much as possible...even if it's just for a night here and there. Of course we have other things we enjoy doing, but it's cool that we are now starting to get in the groove of having "our thing"--which is hiking and camping :)

Other than that, just wedding planning. We are only 81 days out, ahhh!!! :) Anyways, hope you enjoyed my ramblings, and I hope that everybody has a blessed 4th. Stay safe, and always remember to be thankful for our freedom!:)

Spring update

So I thought it might be time to update this blog, since I haven't done it in a while. Life has been pretty darn busy for the past two months, and I'm finally starting to feel more and more settled in, with my new city and the new job everyday.

I am loving my job!!! It's been a lot to learn, but I didn't even know it was possible to enjoy your job this much. The people I work with are truly awesome, and I know that I'm supported and encouraged there. I actually get feedback about the good things that I am doing, so that's really exciting. I haven't been in a job like that in a long time!! I laugh every single day. I'm staying productive, and trying to really set the precedent and stay on top of my caseload, even doing things ahead of time if possible. I'm not sure it'll always be like this, but that's what I am striving for, anyways :) I truly believe in what I'm doing, and feel as if I'm making a difference, and I can't begin to tell you how nice that is. I love having my own office, and I love being able to leave work at work when it's time to go home.

I have to say that I think this is a big learning and growing experience for me, as well. My confidence is getting much better, especially as I've never really had to lead groups before, so group counseling is a new experience for me. I'm beginning to slowly but surely, feel more confident in myself and more assertive in leading. I'm also going to be switching my LPC track to LPC-A (licensed professional counselor associate) which is an ACTUAL license, but it just has slightly different qualifications. In addition to that, I'm working on getting my LCAS (licensed clinical addiction specialist), so this is a really exciting step for me in my career :)

I also have to say that I absolutely have fallen in LOVE with Winston-Salem. To me, it's a larger city, that doesn't quite FEEL so large. It's easy to get around in, and most places only take about 15 minutes to get to. I love the character of this city, and I love the hustle and bustle of downtown Winston during the day (I work downtown and go for walks sometimes during lunch), as well as the energy of people dining outside on the patios at the many restaurants that are downtown. I'm looking forward to eventually developing more of a social life here (I'd love to join up with a bowling league here, as well as joining the Winston Zeta alum chapter), but I think I'm just enjoying all the new changes for right now.

Oh, and most of you probably know this, but about a month ago, I joined the Rush (a gym that's big in the triad area) and decided to try personal training. I'm not going to lie, it is expensive and I know that I will be wincing a bit for the next two months when it's taken out of my checking account, however, I do think that investing in my health is worth it. So far, I have lost  four pounds, 2% body fat, and about 3 inches (something like that). I didn't do my training session this week due to my trainer being out of town, but I can't wait to measure again soon :) I feel my belly getting much smaller, and even got a compliment from a friend at work today, so I know that I'm making great progress! I feel great, and even though it is hard to make myself go to the gym sometimes, I'm glad that I take the time to change, get in my car, and make that trip to the gym on a regular basis.

Anyways, just thought I'd do a quick post since it's been almost two months since I've posted on here!!!

Greetings from Winston-Salem

Well, I am finally all moved in and (mostly) settled into my new apartment in Winston-Salem. Matt and his two brothers helped me move in last Saturday.I can honestly say, with the exception of NOT getting the 24' truck that I specifically requested in my order placed three days in advance, the move went smoothly. Matt calmed me down, which was good, because the guy at the truck rental place was rude and kept telling me I "didn't need" the largest truck that they had. Regardless, Matt made it fit. I think I lucked out because I didn't actually MOVE any of the furniture or boxes in the truck because I had to keep an eye on Coleman.

So after we got all moved in, we went back to Wilmington (truck was one-way). Matt and I got our engagement pictures done by a friend on Tuesday, and even though it was cold and windy, I thought they turned out pretty great!! I'd like to get some "professional" ones in Winston, but I might wait a couple of months for that.

I came back to Winston on Wednesday, and have spent the past few days unpacking, getting settled, and buying essentials (such as groceries). I have a rather lofty goal of eating out as little as possible, and cooking dinner and packing my lunch for work on a regular basis. It shouldn't be that hard, since I'm just by myself right now, and can use leftovers, too. I'm excited that there's an Aldi's only about two miles from my apartment--I got a ton of stuff there for under $200! :) While I did have to go to Food Lion to pick up a few other things, I was happy that I could get my kitchen pretty fully stocked relatively inexpensively. Since the only apartment I've lived in was a townhouse, I was a bit unsure as to how I would like "apartment living." Surprisingly, even though I am very close to Wake Forest, it is relatively quiet here. I have now spent a Friday and a Saturday night here, and I hardly hear anything. There are 10 miles of trails which start behind my apartment and connect to trails across the street. Coleman and I have explored them a little bit, and he seems to like them! I've had confirmation from a couple friends in the area that I'm in a good area. And to confirm it, there are several large, expensive houses off of the Bethabara Trail that runs to my apartment. I like that there's a library, and a Dollar Tree about a minute or two up the road from here. I also like that there's a Family Dollar, Target, Aldi's only a few miles away. I'm only a fifteen minute drive to work. I'm only a few minutes away from my friend, Katie. I'm even close to the Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda House, which I plan on checking out at some point. Also, apparently there is a historic park at Bethabara where the Moravians settled. Should be fun checking out sometime soon. Hopefully the weather will be warm tomorrow (supposed to be 72), so I can take Coleman to Pilot Mountain tomorrow!!:)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Happy belated Valentine's Day!! I hope that everybody had the most awesome day EVER. I know I did. Matt came home from work and class with a dozen red roses, and a sweet card (ironically, the card that I myself ALMOST bought him!!). We went out for a nice Italian dinner, and had a nice romantic night ;)

Unfortunately, between the Italian sampler, the large class of sangria, and some Riesling I had last night, I think I put a pound on just yesterday :( That's my frustration lately. I have been eating smaller, more frequent meals, and eating small snacks too throughout the day. When it is warm enough, I've been taking my dog on walks for about an hour or so. I did lose the couple of pounds I had put back on, and now I gained another pound! It seems to do that for some reason....I lose a few pounds, gain one or two back, lose one, and then gain another! I am going to go with the assumption that my unhealthy eating last night, along with the alcohol helped me put a pound back on, and hopefully I'll be able to take it back off. I am not necessarily at an "unhealthy" weight at 130, but I'd like to lose between 5-10 pounds. I would love it if I could be 120 lbs again. Although I do have to say, I have been feeling more energized lately since I've been getting more exercise, and trying to create healthier eating habits.

On a HAPPY note....I finally found a place to live!! After spending two Fridays driving to Winston-Salem, going all around looking at houses, apartments and condos, and then driving BACK to Wilmington....we found a place!!! It's just an apartment, however, it's 2br/2ba has a HUGE walk-in master closet, and is a little over 1000 sq ft. The rent is cheap (they're doing a special for $575), so that would help us to save money for other things (such as a honeymoon or renting/buying a nice house), and there are 10 miles of hiking trails behind the apartments, which will be super great for Coleman. We got everything approved yesterday, so now I just need to mail in the deposit and the pet deposit, and I will be signing the lease and moving in on Saturday! I'm so excited, I can't wait! It will feel SO good to FINALLY have my own place again!!!

Creating healthy habits

I guess it's been awhile since I've last posted. I've been keeping myself pretty busy here. I had some good news....I lost four pounds...yay me! Sadly, due to slacking off a few days in the food journal, exercise, etc, I've gained back a couple of those pounds...which I have to say, is frustrating. I was JUST bragging on facebook about how I'm starting to take off the pounds. However, I can't let myself become frustrated or discouraged, I've gotta keep moving forward. I think part of the reason I've put a couple of the pounds BACK on is not getting enough fiber in my diet. Not only that, Matt and I spent an ENTIRE day (from a little before 7am until about 12:30am the next day) driving around Winston-Salem looking at houses, which meant an ENTIRE day of eating fast food. Yuck. I used to LOVE eating fast food, but I'm finding that it's starting to disgust me somewhat when I DO eat it. It makes me feel lethargic and drained.

I read in a magazine recently it takes 66 days for something to become habit...so that's what I'm working on. I've been using the treadmill in Matt's apartment complex, as well as my Zumba Wii workouts, and when the weather's nice out, I've been trying to take advantage of that by taking Coleman for long walks. One habit I'm trying to create is to aim for at least 30 minutes of daily exercise, if not every single day, at least on MOST days. I feel better when I do that.

My second habit I'm going to try to work on is eating healthier, eating breakfast EVERY day, and eating several small meals throughout the day, with lots of fiber and protein to keep me going. I've realized that lately, I've gotten in the habit of skipping breakfast, not eating much for lunch, and then eating a large dinner. By the time dinnertime rolls around, I'm famished. It doesn't help that for the past couple of months, I've more or less been living with Matt (let's just say, my dog and stuff are at my parents' house, however, I'm here everyday and end up sleeping here almost every night, as well), and he doesn't exactly keep healthy food on hand. So today, I took it upon myself to go grocery shopping for HEALTHY foods. I really like Fiber One bars and cereals, and they keep me full in the mornings so I don't have a sugar crash. I also stocked up on hummus, chocolate soymilk, Special K protein shakes, skim milk, Skinny Cow ice cream bars (only 100 calories, woo hoo!!), and bagel thins and sandwich buns, which are thin, only 100 calories, and chock full of protein and fiber. So hopefully, this will be the start of new, healthy habits. I've done an hour of Zumba and Just Dance 2 on the Wii so far today, and I've been eating smaller, more frequent meals.

It's been awhile...

Wow, it's been a couple of weeks! Time for an update, huh?


I went to Greenville, SC a couple of weeks ago for my sister-in-law's baby shower. It was a lot of fun. Since she's due the week of St. Patrick's Day, we all dressed up in green for the shower, and had four leaf clover hats :) It was a lot of fun going out with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and a lot of their friends for dinner and drinks later. Good times. No idea on the name of baby girl Robinson yet, but I'm super excited. This will be my first time being an aunt, and I can hardly wait!! :) Then, that Sunday, my parents and I drove to Asheville to check out the wedding venue and....we booked it!!!! It is OFFICIALLY set now, September 24, 2011 will be the day that I become a Mrs. :) The place we're getting married at is a really cute bed and breakfast, and the wedding coordinator is super nice and threw in two nights at the carriage house FOR FREE (that's usually like $350 extra!!!)....so I'm pretty stoked about staying in the carriage house with some of my bridesmaids the night before the wedding, and getting ready with my girls there, as well. I'm not quite sure WHERE Matt will stay the night before the wedding...but I'm good to go! haha.

Oh, and today I officially accepted my "contingent" job offer. I will be starting February 28 (thank God). I was supposed to start Valentine's Day, but since I have to find a place to live and move, I'm glad that I was able to get a couple of extra weeks to arrange for that. I suppose I will start looking at houses next week. I'm really pumped about the opportunity to move to the Winston-Salem area! Hopefully Matt and I will be able to buy within the next year or so (that's our goal, anyways. We really don't wanna keep renting for too much longer). Definitely a lot of new, and exciting changes this year...and I can't wait for it.


Other than the upcoming arrival of my niece, starting a new job and moving to a new city, and planning my wedding, the only other major thing in my life has been trying to consistently stay active and be healthy. It's definitely a learning process. I can't WAIT to join a gym again and get back into the gym groove (I love all the different classes!), but so far, Just Dance 2, Gold's Gym Dance Workout, and the new Zumba for Wii have been keeping me motivated to work out just because it's so much FUN to dance and it doesn't seem like work. Although, I came down with a pretty yucky cold this weekend that put me out of commission until yesterday... :(