Big Life Changes...

...are always scary, but 90% of the time they are for the best.

Yesterday I officially resigned from my job.  Let's face it, I was miserable here.  As much as I liked {most} of the people I worked with, and I feel horrible leaving given that one of my other coworkers just left (and our group only has 4 people in it) I have to do what's best for me emotionally and financially.  I'll be starting at my new job on July 18th, and I'm very excited!

I had given my current company a chance to match the offer that my new job gave me, not because I wanted to stay but as a courtesy given the only two people left have less than 1 year experience here between the two of them.  When the director of my area told me that they weren't going to be countering, and I simply responded "Okay" he looked a little dumbstruck.  Bryan and I think he might have thought I was bluffing about having another job lined up, but that would be really stupid if you ask me.  So after he stared at me for a moment he goes "And to be quite honest, Amanda, I'm offended you were even looking at other jobs considering all the opportunities we've given you."

It took every fiber of my being to prevent me from either laughing or blowing up in his face.  First of all, he was not the director of my area when I was initially hired, so he had nothing to do with that.  And unless you count an obscene amount of work and responsibilities (and given I had just graduated from college and didn't have any sort of mentor ship because two other people from our group quit last summer) with absolutely no compensation or recognition as "opportunities" they've done nothing but under appreciate the amount of work I've put in here.

And after that, I felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders.  I'm excited about my new job, I was actually afraid they would counter the offer and I wouldn't be able to turn down the additional salary even though I don't like my job.  But I'm still slightly offended.  It just proves that management here really has no idea what it is that I do, and they're going to be in for a big surprise when I leave.

But - at my new job I get to wear open toed shoes, and I'll actually get paid for overtime!!!!!!  And I'll no longer have to walk past the Planned Parenthood Protesters on my way to work!  Part of me felt like it wasn't the best idea to switch careers with my wedding coming up so quickly, but there's no day like today, and I've decided to take Skinny Bitch's advice and "dedicate myself to creating the life I want."

As for working out (yes, it is still Fitness Recap Friday) I only did twice this week...but that's better than the past two weeks!  I did HIIT 15 on Monday and Fire 45 on Tuesday.  Tuesday night I knew I would be approaching my boss the next day and I took all my anxiety out on that kickboxing workout.  I'm amazed my arms didn't go flying off my body I was punching so hard, hahaha.




And since I'm quite proud of the progress I'm making on shoe number 2, I just have to show it off:

Isn't she purrrrty?

This weekend is more invitation extravaganza - I'm hoping to get them in the mail by next Thursday.

Any big plans for Fourth of July weekend (wedding related or not)?

Today I Begin My Facial Detox...

Yeah, so remember when I was bitching about hating my skin (in case you don't, the post can be found here)?  Well HiLLjo, author of Daisy to Sunflower, made an unthinkable recommendation - if I want my skin to clear up I have to cold turkey quit wearing makeup for a while.

At first the idea kind of made me want to vomit.  I've been wearing makeup for as long as I can remember.  I feel naked without it.  But the idea of not having clear skin for the wedding makes me want to vomit and then die, so I figured I'd give it a try.

But, instead of waiting until the wedding to see if it would work for me, I'm doing a mini facial detox between now and my bridal shower (Saturday, June 11th).  And you should know me well enough by now to realize I love me some before and after pictures, so, (and I can't believe I'm posting close-ups of my face on the internet sans-makeup) here are my before pictures:

Oh the horror...

Let's just hope that a week from now I'll be happily posting "after" pictures (because if things don't improve you can bet your first born I'm taking this suckers down and deleting every copy of them I can find).

And, just for fun, I really like my Skinny Bitch calendar today, so I'm going to share that with you as well (to make up for forcing you to look at my naked face):

Until next time...

Fitness Recap Friday!!!

It's Friday!  And a better Friday than usual since I have a three day weekend this weekend!  Woot!  And MOH Sam and I are going to be busting our butts on wedding projects even though it's finally supposed to be nice out...

Look at that lovely forecast!  Looks like we might be making pomanders on the back porch...haha

Any way, back to my recap.  And you guessed it, I did Turbo Fire!

Monday - Fire 30, Stretch 10

Tuesday - Fire 45 EZ, Stretch 10

Wednesday - Core 20, Stretch 10 and I officially finished my second month!  In case you missed it, I have some progress pictures posted here!

Thursday - HIIT 15, Sculpt 30.  Holy cow, let me tell you, my abs were sore from the core workout on Wednesday and then doing a HIIT workout (which is basically workout at a kill-yourself level for a minute, then recover for a minute) and then do a resistance workout...I was pooped!  Needless to say, I slept like a baby last night!

Tonight I'm going to try and get myself to workout, we'll see though...

Did you have any good workouts this week?

Edited to add...

I really like today's Skinny Bitch Calendar Quote, so I have to share it with you all:

That is so true!  In Turbo Fire, Chalene is always reminding you that you have to push yourself to the next level if you want to see your body change; you can't just go through the motions.  If you want to be fit, you have to start being fit!

Now I'm done with this post for real, Happy Friday!

Skinny Bitch Advice...

I happened to like yesterday's "Skinny Bitch" calendar advice, so I figured I'd share it with you:

Personal Photo of Skinny Bitch Calendar

Recap - fights depression; cool, who wouldn't want to combat depression?  Boosts energy; seriously, when you're busy planning a wedding, working, living life, etc. who doesn't want more energy?  Helps burn fat; enough said.  Prevents heart attacks, maintains good cholesterol levels, aids in digestion, combats PMS, helps prevent premature labor, and keeps teeth strong; who wouldn't want any of those thing!?

And, if you remember, I'm taking a hefty vitamin regimen, so I decided to check it out to see if it had any of this anti-stress mineral, and how much:

Picture of the label of the GNC Be-Wholesome Vitapack

Bam!  63% of your daily value.  And I eat a lot of green veggies (broccoli..yummmm) so I'm probably getting the other 37% in my diet.  Not gonna lie, I was kinda hoping I wasn't getting enough, and then I could make an effort to get more and I would miraculously have more energy.  Yeah, I know, that isn't how that works, but a girl can dream, right?

Do you make an effort to get all the recommended vitamins and minerals throughout your day?

4 Months!?!?!?

Four Months from right this very second I will probably be running around like a mad woman with MOH Sam reminding me every 3 minutes that I have to eat something - because four months from today is our wedding!

I honestly can't even believe it.  Yes, I've had wedding supplies building up in our spare room and basement for months and months, but I can't believe it's getting this close!  Before I know it, we'll be sending out invitations, and then getting RSVPs, and then getting married, and then on our honeymoon!  Eeek!

And with the wedding in T minus 4 months, I got a lovely Michaels' coupon in my email this morning!  It's for 20% off you entire purchase including sale items!!!!  And because I love my readers so much, I'm going to share with with you! (It can be found here)

Also, today's "Skinny Bitch" calendar is really hitting home with me, so of course I'll share that with you as well:

It is simple - I need to workout.  Not only because my wedding is 4 months away and if I stay on track I'll be wrapping up the entire Turbo Fire program right as it's time to get married, but because working out really does make you feel better.  And let's face it, planning a wedding can be stressful!  We can use all the natural endorphins and feel-good opiates we can get!

How's wedding planning going for you?  Are you having trouble realizing how fast time is going by, too?

Fitness Recap Friday!!!

And I actually have something to recap!  But first, a little note from Skinny Bitch (this was my calendar page yesterday):

It's almost like she knew I've been lazy lately...

But like I said, I have something to recap, which is much better than last week!

Sunday - I did all five segments of "10 Minute Solutions: Knockout Body"

I really don't think I need to talk about this one anymore than I already have, haha.  I just love it.  And since I've been so lazy recently (I still can't believe I didn't workout at all last week) it really kicked my ass!  My shoulders were throbbing on Monday.




Wednesday - I did 30 minutes of "10 Minute Solutions: Pilates Perfect Body."

I did the all over section, the belly section, and the stretch section.  Nothing crazy, but I felt good about it afterwards!






And that's it.  I know, big fat let down...but I have exciting news! 

On Sunday I decided to bite the bullet and invest in something a little more hardcore than your average workout DVD.  I ordered "Turbo Fire" and I'm super excited to say that it should be arriving today or tomorrow.  I'm not going to do the whole "program" (meaning you only do turbofire workouts, it just outlines which one to do on which days) but I think it will be nice to have a really challenging workout available to push myself with.  I'll be sure to review the heck out of the program to help anyone who is considering "taking the plunge" with a more expensive at-home workout!


How was your week?  Any advice or words of motivation to get my butt back on track?