randominities

Last post... July 28. Hm. Wonder if anyone still checks this thing? :)

I've been busy. The summer flew by amid a flurry of photography, and well, photography. :) This last week was the week for consultations and booking weddings, and I'm happy to say next year is booking up!

The latest and most recent thing/milestone in my life has been weight loss...

These are some awful pictures from last Thanksgiving (2010). Shield your eyes. Leave them small.

Now, less than a year later (well, only since February), 40-lbs lighter, and 14% less body fat, this is me:

Everyone always wants to know what I'm doing... like losing weight is a big secret. It's not. It's the opposite of gaining weight: eating less, working out more, and hard work. I saw this on a bumper sticker last week: Winners find a way. Losers find excuses.

I attribute a lot of the credit to my trainer... lots of hours logged at the gym, 6 days a week. Plus a detailed food log.

Still struggling a little with where to go from here. I'd like to keep losing, but more than anything, I'd like to keep toning and trimming fat. I'd rather gain weight with muscle, so I can keep lifting. Hah, who'd ever think that would come out of my mouth! So my next short-term goal is another -5lbs, which I think is very do-able. Plus I have several lifting goals... one of which is to get some tougher calluses. :)

I firmly believe in rewards.. that don't include ice cream and chocolate! hah! For my -40, I got myself a pair of new boots (withOUT heels, since I'm still not wearing shoes with heels), a new purse, and some new workout clothes. Must have fit me better than my saggy baggy ones, because I had a comment from this sweet gal in the locker room about how great I looked. She's super nice, and I've talked to her a few different times since I've started going to the gym.

In other news, not too ecstatic about the coming of winter... It's getting colder, and the gray, rainy days get pretty long, even though they're short. I used to look forward to winter for a few reasons, but most of those were about eating... turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, apple cider. I guess leather boots don't really have anything to do with eating, thankfully.

However, I am looking forward to the "slow" season of photography... finally going to get caught up on all my album design! Plus, start preparing promo pieces and marketing efforts for next year, reviewing my workflow, and other little projects I've been saving on my master list.

Not a whole lot else going on, really... :)

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And a little note to self, just because I don't ever want to lose this recipe. These are delicious Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 5-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.