Christmas decorations....

I have completed my Christmas decorations!

hahaha. Yes, these are my only "decorations".
Christmas is always synonymous with finals for me, and then I go home and don't come back til the middle of January, so I don't decorate for Christmas. But Elle can certainly get a Christmas collar! One of my mom's friends picked this one up for her (she got one for Satin too!), and it is just SO CUTE. She got it at some craft fair or something, so it's handmade. It's painted and has glitter on it. I'm sure the glitter is already ALL OVER my bed, but oh well.

Here are a couple closer up pics of the cuteness:



Sorry for the crappy pics... I desperately need a new camera so these are just iphone pics.

Do you guys get Christmas collars/sweaters for your dogs? (Elle would totally have a Christmas sweater if I could find one big enough... poor baby is just too large!). She does have a HOT PINK winter coat, but I don't bust that out til it gets below 20 degrees. It's super cute.

Did you get your Christmas decorations put up? Or are you a poor pathetic student like moi with an undecorate bah-humbug apartment?! Haha.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday!
XO

p.s. how cute is Elle in that first pic? I literally had to PICK her head up to put the collar on her she was SO exhausted when I picked her up last night. Four days of doggie daycare is a lot of playtime!

Happy Ham Day!

Yep, you read that right... I made it through another Thanksgiving dinner (keep in mind dinner is at noon here in East Texas and supper is the evening meal!) without eating any turkey.

I don't DISlike turkey, I just prefer ham. We always have ham and turkey at our Thanksgiving meals so I skip over the turkey and go for the ham.
... And the stuffing
... And the dressing
... And the black-eyed peas
... And the cornbread
... And the rolls
... And everything else I could get my paws on!

We attempted to run the turkey trot this morning, but I actually didn't do a lot of running. I was with a friend from high school, and she didn't want to run, so I could only make her run a little bit! Also, the Turkey Trot in Dallas is HUGE (we're talking like 40,000+ people) and it was packed. I thought they would have had it more organized, but it was a pretty big mess. They didn't have different start times for the people who were doing the timed run vs people running untimed/walking/with dogs/with strollers, etc. Anytime I would start running I would take 5 strides and immediately be behind a giant group of walkers taking up the entire road.
I think of you really wanted to run it, you would either have to get there SUPER early and get to the starting line or just shove your way past all the walkers and get out ahead of them.

Oh well... I'm going to try to do the jingle bell run in December and hopefully that will be a lot better and I can actually run!

How was everyone else's Thanksgiving? Did you boycott the turkey to eat ham?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Weigh-In Wednesday

Hey everyone!!

Not much to report this week for weigh-in wednesday.... I worked out like a crazy women (earned 51 WW activity points) but did a crappy job of tracking what I ate and ate like a horse. So I didn't gain or lose. Not thrilled about it, but coulda been worse!

This week: no change
Total since January 09: -15 pounds

I think my goal from here on out will be to just try not to gain anything between now and the first of the year. If I can survive finals and the holidays without gaining, I'm going to consider it a win.

How'd everyone else do?!

Scrumptious Snack...

Howdy everyone!
I know I usually only blog about working out and eating stuff on Wednesdays, but I wanted to share this recipe for a dip with you since I know a lot of you are doing Weight Watchers or just trying to watch what you're eating, especially as the holidays are fast approaching (ummm Thanksgiving on Thursday? what? how did that happen?). I think one of the things that has helped me lose weight is keeping healthy snacks around and all times and trying my best not to let myself wait until I'm totally famished and then eating an enormous meal. That's a recipe for disaster!

I originally found this recipe on FitSugar like 6+ months ago, but I love it and think it's totally worth sharing. This is for a dip for fruit... I prefer it with apples but you could use it for whatever. It's a great alternative to using just peanut butter for dipping apples in since peanut butter has SO many calories and so much fat! (yes, I realize it's good fat but if you're watching your POINTS intake it doesn't matter to you very much. trust me.).

So here it is:

Take one 6 ounce container of Oikos vanilla Greek Yogurt (this stuff is so good, mmm!) and put it in a bowl.

Add in 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (I use Jif creamy but you can use whatever you like):

Add in a tablespoon of honey:

and a teaspoon or so of ground cinnamon:


Then cut up your apple and dip!

(or just use a spoon and eat it on its own. Not that I've done that or anything). It seriously tastes like peanut butter ice cream! Mmmmmm


Now for the WW points value:
- The container of Greek Yogurt is 2 points
- 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is 5 points
- 1 tbsp of honey is 1 point
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon is 0 points

This recipe actually makes a LOT of dip, so just divide out the total (11 points) based on how much you eat. It's a low point and delicious snack!
Enjoy!

Can I get some privacy around here?

So you guys know I keep my phone with me pretty much all the time (yes, I have an addiction, I realize this). You also know I love to take baths. Sometimes I even blog in the bath. Tonight I was in the bath, tweeting, checking my email, etc., and Elle did what she ALWAYS does when I'm showering/bathing:


She comes and STARES at me!!! Seriously... it's so funny. She's such a creep.

Anyone else have a hard time getting to bathe in privacy because of a nosy pup?!
XOXO

It's not just me...

So it's not just me... everyone in my family is crazy.

I just had the following text conversation with my brother (keep in mind I haven't spoken to my brother since I visited him in September and this text was totally out of nowhere).

Brother: "Pressure our parents to get us Mavs tickets for next week with me sissy."
Me: "For when? I need to be pressuring them to give me money to pay my bills."
Brother: "I swear our family and the goddamn financially driven negativity... Makes me sick."
Brother: "Sell Elle's organs on the black market. You should be able to get a good price, seeing as she's large."
Me: "Not a bad idea..."

Kangoo!

I have blogged/tweeted about Kangoo before... it is a craaaaazy/hard/fun class that my trainer Mario teaches at a gym here in Chicago.

A couple of friends and I took the class tonight since it is was his last one before Mario leaves to move to NYC on December 1st (I don't wanna talk about it). He choreographed a routine to Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance".... it was SO fun.

He just uploaded the video to YouTube, and since someone always asks what it is whenever I tweet about it, here it is!



As one of my friends just said to me via gchat: "At the end when you guys just do goofy shit, I can totally recognize your moves." HA!

Can you guess which one is me?! Haha. It's pretttyyy obvious based on the hair/workout gear. :)

Re-Posting - Gwendolyn Strong and the Petition to Cure SMA

Hey everyone - this is a re-post of an older post.... PLEASE PLEASE sign the petition! XOXO



For those of you who don't know about Gwendolyn Strong, I suggest you hop on over to www.gwendolynstrong.com right now and read up.

Gwendyoln is a 22 month old with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type I (SMA), which is the leading genetic killer of children.

gwendolynstrong.com is written by her parents, Bill and Victoria, about their struggles with SMA and their journey with their beautiful daughter. This is from their website:

We are Bill and Victoria Strong. Our precious daughter, Gwendolyn DeBard Strong, was born perfectly healthy October 4, 2007. At 9-weeks-old she was hospitalized with what was thought to be Infant Botulism, a serious, but treatable illness. However, eventually, just before her 6 month birthday, our worst fears were realized when she was diagnosed with the terminal, degenerative disease SMA Type 1. This is the journey that follows the good, the bad, and all things Gwendolyn.

Most babies diagnosed with SMA Type 1 don't live to see their second birthday. This disease is SO tragic, but they are so close to finding a cure.

Check out this video:



Then go sign the petition to cure SMA:

They have collected almost 70,000 signatures so far, with their goal of 100,000.

This family has so touched my heart, and I'm sure if you go back through the archives of their blog they will touch yours too.

So lets get out there fabulous ones - and watch the video, sign the petition, donate some extra coin to the Gwendolyn Strong foundation if you have any, and keep sweet Gwendolyn and her incredible parents in your prayers.

XOXO

Weigh-In Wednesday

Sorry for the 2 week weigh-in hiatus... last Wednesday I totally overslept and then just ignored the scale for the rest of the week.

I am SO glad that I have good news to report! And it's good news despite the fact that I did not work out Tuesday-Thursday last week, Sunday, or Tuesday. I was a big time slacker! And I

Despite all that, I managed to lose 1.5 pounds this week! Yay!

So,

This week: -1.5 pounds
Total since January 2009: -15 pounds

YAY! Down 15 pounds!!! So I know weigh what I weighed 2 years ago in college... Apparently not only did I gain 25 pounds in college, I also gained 15 pounds in law school. I'm an admitted stress-eater. Aren't I lucky?

I am still 15 pounds away from my goal, but I feel like I've finally turned a corner and will actually lose weight a little more quickly now. Like maybe it took 10.5 months but my metabolism has finally woken up from it's 24 year long slumber?!

So there we have it. My mom is going to be purchasing me a new pair of jeans over Thanksgiving, yay! And also probably a new pair of tennis shoes... mine are worn out! It's time for a new pair. I have such big, wide, flat feet that I have a hard time finding a good pair that don't squish my big ole clodhoppers. I usually wear New Balance... sometimes men's, sometimes women's.
Do I have any similarly-situated Amazon women readers with suggestions?

How did everyone else do this week?

An update from Elle Woods

Hi everyone!
Mom has been a very bad blogger lately, so I decided to take over for her today!
This morning we went to the vet. I've heard that some dogs don't like the vet. I don't know why, I think it's just fine. They tell me how beautiful I am and give me treats. What's so bad about that?!

The first part of the trip to the vet is usually the most stressful for Mom... the part where I have to stand still while some numbers come up on a screen. Mom says this is called a scale, and it's stressful because I am a little on the "small" side, and the dogtor (get it?! doctor for dog?! HAHAHA!) wants me to gain some weight. What kind of a dogtor wants a girl to gain weight?! I like that my ribs stick out... I think it makes me look high-fashion. I told mom just to tell him that I'm "Runway Ready", but she doesn't seem to care.

So I've been really trying to gain weight for a year now. Mom switched my food up to something SUPER yummy, AND she mixes the kibble with a can of food too. Canned food is SOO yummy! I actually like to eat now! (Not all the time, don't get me wrong, but sometimes!)

So when I stepped on the scale, mom said that if I had gained 3 or 4 pounds she would be SOOOO excited...
Guess what.... I gained TEN POUNDS!
.Pretty exciting stuff, huh?
I don't like to stand still for too long so mom couldn't get a picture of the numbers, but I officially weigh 114 pounds. 6 months ago I only weighed 104.2. I had a good summer full of lots of good meals!
Just to give you non-Great Dane people an idea - My Daddy weighs 165 pounds and my mom weighs about 125 pounds. Average males usually weigh between 135-170 pounds and females 110-140.
So at 104, I was petite! DANE-ty, if you will! HAHAHAHAH!

After I got weighed they took me into the room. Mom says most dogs go up here on this table. I checked it out and said "no way jose, you ain't liftin me up here! I am 114 pounds biotch!".

As you can see, my head is taller than this table!!

The vet tech checked me out, then he went to go get the vet. He says I'm a beautiful girl. He was laughing because a girl in the lobby asked mom if I was nice. Ha! Can you believe that? Mom says it happens all the time and people are dumb. Mom is right, people are DUMB!

This is me, watching the vet tech as he went back to get the vet.

This sink is next to the window where I can watch the vet tech and the vet doing lab work. It drips a little water. Mom says it's bad for the environment, but it's good for me to wet my whistle!!

This is my vet, Dr. R. If anyone in Chicago needs a vet, you should check him out. He's the best!!! Here he is just checking out my chart. He is SO proud of my weight gain! He also talked to mom about my shots. They were out of one of the ones I needed, so I have to go back to the vet. I don't mind it though.

Here I am checking everything out while he gets my shots ready. Gotta make sure everything's okay on my chart!

Then Dr. R listened to my ticker (sounds good!), drew some blood (easy-peasy, results coming tomorrow!), and then it was shot time! Mom gave me some good head scratches during shot time, and I didn't even notice them. I don't understand why all these humans hate shots so much (ah-hem... MOM!).

Dr. R said that he wished all his patients were as good as me! I stood still for my blood draw, didn't even flinch during my shots, and let him check out my pearly whites with no problems! I didn't really like when he looked in my ears, but hey, nobody's perfect!

After those shots, I was READY TO GO!!!

So we came home and I got to nap all day on the bed. Just like I like it.

How was everyone else's Tuesday?

XOXO,
The Perfectly Petite 114 pound Elle Woods

p.s. - as always, feel free to e-mail me at ellewoodsthegreatdane@gmail.com. I love fan mail!

I'm alive...

Hi everyone...
I have been totally MIA on the blog over the last week... It's like some weeks I can think of three things to write about every day and other weeks I can't come up with anything...
This week was def a nothing to say kinda week.

I've been busy getting stuff done for school, took the MPRE (so lame), and did a lot of catching up on sleep this week. I love sleeping.

I did not do a Weigh-In Wednesday this week... Truth is I didn't even want to step on the scale, so I skipped it.
I didn't work out Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday this week, which is the longest break I've taken in a looooong time. When I got on the treadmill today, I could definitely tell! After 1 or 2 days off my legs usually feel rested, but I hadn't attempted to run in 6 days and I felt sluggish. Not a good feeling, especially with the Turkey Trot 5k coming up in less than 2 weeks (thanksgiving day!) in Dallas. My original goal was to run the entire thing without stopping, but I'm not so sure I'll be able to do that. I will definitely have to get my butt in gear over the next 13 days if I'm gonna make it happen.

Other than that, not much to report on. I cannot believe that it's almost Thanksgiving and almost the end of the semester! I am sooo not ready for that. I have totally neglected two of my classes pretty much all semester and the finals are going to be pretty difficult. Time to get it together!!!

Hope everyone else had a better/more productive week than I did!
Xoxo

[Posted with iBlogger]

Things that are not awesome: Maine.

Apparently this week I've decided to share all my political commentary with you guys.
By the way - I LOVED reading all of your responses to my post on Monday about abortion and parental notification. There was NO name calling and SO many well-thought out and well-articulated responses. Thank you!!! A lot of you expressed my opinion in the comments better than I did in the original post! Haha. I have the best readers evahhh!

So today I'm moving on to gay marriage. (side note: The more I write on this blog the more liberal I sound.... if I write next week that I bought a pair of Birkenstocks or Toms, someone please hold an intervention! hahaha).

Tuesday night voters in Maine voted to reject a state law that would have allowed same-sex marriage.

I understand why people disagree with the death penalty. I understand why people want universal health care. I understand why people are pro-choice. I understand why people want to raise taxes on the wealthy. I don't agree with those views, but I really do understand why people feel the way that they do. Those things have a direct impact on people's lives.

WHY do people feel so strongly against gay marriage?
I even understand why people don't care... if it doesn't affect you, then who cares?

What I just DO NOT understand is why people feel so strongly AGAINST gay marriage.

My thoughts on gay marriage can basically be summed up by the facebook group "Against gay marriage? Then don't get one and shut the fuck up."

Can anyone please explain to me WHY people care?
50% of heterosexual marriages end in divorce anyway, maybe we should ban all marriages? Or ban divorces? Or here's an idea - let's repeal the marriage tax break. That would help out with the enormous budget problems we have. Or maybe we should give single people a tax break to discourage marriage? Maybe then there wouldn't be so many divorces.

Would love to hear your thoughts... feel free to agree or disagree with me. And as always - please no name calling. We're all entitled to our opinions.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Is it just me or are these weeks flying by?
I can't believe it's already Wednesday again, not to mention NOVEMBER!

When I stepped on the scale this morning I was a little disappointed, given my serious workouts (including RUNNING! whoo!), but then I remembered all that I ate and I think it's fair. ha.

This week: -.5 pounds
Total since January 2009: -13.5 pounds
Still to lose: 16.5 pounds

Slowlyyyyyyyy coming off. I am 1.5 pounds away from what I weighed 2.5 years ago when I graduated from college and 16.5 pounds away from my "goal" weight.

As for the past weeks workouts:
Wednesday: Nothing. I got my hair did. No sweating to mess up a fresh blowout! haha
Thursday: Spin class and 30 minutes on the elliptical Friday: Week 5 workout 3 of Couch to 5k. RAN FOR 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT WITHOUT STOPPING!!!! Yes it was only 5.2 mph and no incline, but I don't think I have EVER ran 20 minutes without stopping in my entire life. I was very proud of myself! (as you can tell, ha). Then I did 20 minutes on the stairmaster.
Saturday: I probably did approximately 200 bicep curls while bringing my beer to my mouth at the tailgate. Also did some good cardio hopping around trying to stay warm. Ha.
Sunday: Hungover/exhausted/worthless
Monday: 45 min spin class and 30 min on the elliptical
Tuesday: 1 hour of weights and resistance training with Mario the trainer before classes, then Week 6 workout 1 of Couch to 5k and 15 minutes on the stairmaster after class.

At the advice of It Is Everlasting, I purchased this baby:

It's a Polar F6 heart rate monitor. I used it for the first time last night and really enjoyed it! I thought that the chest strap would bother me, but it didn't. And it transmits your heart rate to the treadmills and ellipticals at the gym in my building! I feel so hard core now! Haha.

So there ya have it. I feel like I'm starting to finally break through and see some results... I hope it continues! I am a little worried about keeping up with my weight lifting, since yesterday was my last workout with my trainer (I am OUT of money, boo!), but I am going to try my best. Also a little worried about sticking with running and cardio during finals and the holidays (I'm a big stress eater during finals), but I can do it.

Hope everyone else had a good weigh-in!

What's everyone up to tonight?

I have a big assignment due tomorrow... If you were wondering how it's going, this conversation just took place via g-chat..

Classmate: i love how when we heard "write a memo" we both interpreted that to mean "go watch tv and work out"

Ha. The good news - I'm all caught up on Biggest Loser and The Good Wife. The bad news? Ask me tomorrow.

XOXO.

Lusting...

Just logged on to NeimanMarcus.com and saw this babies.... I DIE.

It's my blog and I can talk about controversial stuff if I want to

Alright guys... gonna take a break from my usual fluffy dog/workout/bitching about my life posts and get a little deep here...

This article is currently on the Chicago Tribune's home page: Illinois Parental Notification Law Goes into Effect Tuesday

For those of you who don't want to read the article - the first sentence pretty much sums it up:

Physicians in Illinois this week must begin notifying a parent or guardian when a girl 17 or younger seeks an abortion-- a rule abortion opponents long have sought, but which critics say could keep minors from seeking safe procedures.

I don't really want to make this post about abortion, just about parental notification. But I feel like for the sake of honesty, I should post my thoughts about abortion.
Abortion has always been a touchy subject for me (well, duh... and everyone).

I am pro-life. I'm pretty sure I could never have an abortion. I say pretty sure because I honestly don't know. I've never been in that situation.
I think the fact that abortions are still being had is sad. Having safe sex is not difficult. Condoms are not that expensive. You can get birth control at Planned Parenthood. While I realize it isn't the most effective, you can AT LEAST pull out! (I'm sorry, that's gross, I know, but seriously...).

With all that being said, I don't think that abortions should be illegal. While I think if people are SMART and RESPONSIBLE with choices they make about their bodies, abortions would not be necessary, I also realize that shit happens. I do not think it's my place to tell someone that they HAVE to carry a baby to term. Even though, yes, I DO believe that life begins at conception, I think just as tragic as killing an unborn child is, it is equally as tragic to bring a defenseless infant into poverty, abuse, etc.
So basically, while I don't agree with abortion, and wish it wasn't something that had to happen, I don't feel comfortable telling other people that they cannot have them. I still think of myself as pro-life though. Does that make sense?

As for the parental consent requirement... I cannot imagine being a pregnant 16 year old and having to go tell my parent's I was pregnant. And I have a GREAT relationship with both of my parents and always had a very stable home environment. What about a girl who doesn't have a good parental relationship? Like I said, I can't even imagine.

So, what do you think? Should girl under age 17 be able to get an abortion without her parent's knowing? Should she even be able to get one at all?
And why not, throw out why you think I'm wrong/right with my thoughts on abortion.

Crash Bang Elle Woods!

Hope everyone's Monday is off to a good start... here's how we started our week in fabulous-land:

Last night at about 1AM Elle Woods was snuggled up under the covers with me (she always sleeps in bed with me and usually likes to get under the covers. Yes, I realize she's spoiled rotten).

this is a pic of her under the covers so you get the idea

She rolled over and fell off the bed. She crashed into the night stand, knocked all my books off, knocked the alarm clock off, knocked the lamp off (which I luckily caught mid-air despite is being pitch black), and ALMOST knocked my jewelry box off. Luckily I grabbed the night stand in time.

We were both under the covers and she took all the covers with me (Ripped the sheets off of the bed). She almost took me with her!

It was so hilarious but you could tell she was scared shitless. Poor baby. She got up and went into the kitchen and got a drink of water. She came back in, looked at me, looked at the bed, then went and laid on the other side of the bed on TOP of the covers, like she didn't trust her usual side anymore. I was laughing all night.


Happy Monday!

Busy week ahead

Howdy everyone!
I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween! I actually don't like to celebrate Halloween.... not sure why, I just never have. Probably because there aren't really many options for costumes for girls other than dressing like a skank. And I'm not really into that.
Soooo I went to Champaign for the weekend. We tailgated all day Saturday and went to the game and saw the Illini beat the crap out of Michigan. It was SUCH a great game and it was so much fun to watch them win for a change! It was actually the first time that Illinois has beaten Michigan since 1983... before I was born! Whoohoo! My friend and his parents put on an awesome tailgate, as always, and I think I ate/drank more than 10,000 calories on Saturday. Seriously, it was ridiculous.

Looking ahead at the week: WHooaaaa there.
I have a TON of work to do. I CANNOT believe it's already November. Seriously where the hell did this semester go?!

Also coming up this week - Christmas card pictures!!! Elle and I are having our pictures taken on Thursday. I'm super excited about them.

On top of all the regular school and life stuff going on this week, I am taking the MPRE on Saturday. (For you non-lawyer readers out there - the MPRE is an ethics test that all lawyers-to-be have to take) I know it's supposed to be pretty easy, but I do need to do some studying for it this week. Not sure when that will be taking place, but I'll figure it out. Have to!

I am having kind of a stressful night trying to get my financial situation figured out. As my mother says, I am currently in a financially embarassing situation. I had to call my parents and ask for money for the first time since college. I hate hate hate asking for money from them at any time, but I especially hate it right now. My dad's business is seriously struggling and they don't exactly have tons of money laying around to share with their 24-year-old daughter whom they are already supporting way past an age where most people should be cut off.
I HATE not being able to support myself. I hate not having a paying job. Hate ittttt!

Alright, I'm off to scrub my bathroom, then to read for evidence tomorrow morning (I know, try not to die of shock).

Everyone say a prayer for me... I need it get through this week!

p.s. Sorry this post was a bit of a downer... it seems be a Sunday night trend around here, huh?