new picture of Ruby

She is sooo beautiful. I would be lost without her now.

Long time no blog

Well, what a long time to be AWOL from the blogosphere! I know everyone says it but I have been very busy. Work is manic, Weight Watchers is in full swing (still battling and am at a plateau at the mo) , Ruby has 4x walks a day, I am still battling to finish my HND, plus I am sort of in the process of planning a novel (ooohhh), I think it will be a while in the pipeline. I am also continuing my craft with card making and my newly found hobby; crochet!

So are you all enjoying the summer? I would love to hear what you have all been up to, I really need to catch up with everyone again. I am enjoying the nice weather, but it is not so fun when you are working in a non-air conditioned office with no proper windows which don't open and look out on to a brick wall!

My only regret this summer is that I am not a little nearer my weight loss journey. I have now lost a stone really properly since January when we were finally in our own place and all of the Christmas indulgence was out of the way. So not so bad. At the moment I am a little stuck, and am trying my hardest this week to stay on track as I only have 7 1/2 weeks until my friends wedding who I am a bridesmaid for. I am aiming to lose at least another 1/2 a stone, although I would be over the moon with more. I will really regret it if the wedding day arrives and I am still just a big as ever. I want to feel great and not feel embarrassed to be in her photo's. I am definitely a lot more confident now after my stone loss, so a little more will make me feel even better.

I also have a confession to make, I am a secret Australia/ America's Biggest Loser fan! I have series linked them on Sky and watch them in the evenings when Phil isn't around. It really motivates me though and makes me try even harder when I see their great results, so not such a bad vice to have! I really hope the hard work pays off this week.

Happy Summer!

Weekend Walks

I am very lucky to live on the south coast, which gives me lot's of beautiful areas to walk in. A choice of dozens of beautiful beaches; both sandy and stony, harbours, woodlands, fields and rolling hills. One of those hills being part of the south downs. Now I have a dog I have the perfect excuse to enjoy them.

I spent last Sunday morning, which was a little cold, but a very sunny beautiful day, at the top of Goodwood walking round what we call the trundle. On a clear day it has amazing panoramic views. You can sometimes see as far as Portsmouth, Brighton and the south-downs, this was one of those days. It was lovely, if not a little blowy, but it sure cleared away the cob-webs, it was really nice to enjoy a leisurely walk with Ruby and my other half Phil, a perfect Sunday morning.

I got some piccies too.....

Just Me- Updated look

I have become a little bored with the look of my blog, unfortunately I do not have the money to invest in having one built especially for me, so instead I have chosen a new background from the cutest blog's on the block and then created a banner to go with it. Hope you like it, I love these colours, grey is so on trend.

Love her style!

I absolutely love the spring summer trends and especially the nudes, like pale pink and cream. I especially love this dress that Annalynne McCord from 90210, wore to the Calvin Klein Fall 2010 after party. I love her style and sooo want this dress.

I have my brothers wedding to go to in September so if I get to my goal weight I will be treating myself to a new dress, maybe not that one as it is a little out of my price range but something similar to show off my new figure!

Love the designs- Love your home for less

I discovered a new furniture company today, Love your home for less. I really like their product, a lot of it is very rustic, natural and earthy. I especially love the Fred chest shown below, it also come in black and which chequered effect.

Weighted Thursday- Wohoo 3 more lbs and a new addition

Well I had my weekly weigh in yesterday and I have lost another 3lb. I really seem to be getting in the swing of things now, I am 1lb away from my next goal which is 5% and only 4lb away from a stone! I am also pleased to say that I have not once felt like I was on a diet and couldn't have things that I like to eat, I had Chinese takeaway on Friday, I chose wisely but still really enjoyed it and I never eat it all in one go, I save some and have it the next day. I have also had a naughty Maccy d's breakfast this week, but the rest of the time I have made sensible choices. We got our dog, Ruby on Saturday and I have been walking her loads, four times a day as we don't have a fenced off garden other than our decking, so that has definitely helped. Seen as I will be continuing to walk Ruby for a long time, I should keep steadily losing weight if I eat well along side it.

So we picked Ruby up on Saturday. When we arrived at her old home I think we went with a preconceived idea of what she would be like, i.e bigger and a little slimmer and when we first arrived we were shown a lot of puppies which were really cute and then we saw Ruby in her Kennel and were at first a little disappointed. Linda bought her out to see us and lifted her on the grooming table so that we could examine her, instantly my disappointment melted away and after walking her I was 99.9% sure I wanted to take her home. Unfortunately Phil did not feel the same, but we weren't really given time to discuss and it and so Ruby came home with us in the car, all be it a little sad to leave her old home.

On the way home

She is such a good dog, because she has been shown she is obedient and well trained, waiting or staying when you ask her to, walking to heel etc. She is an angel and the perfect dog for us. I love her already and I am pretty sure she loves me back. She loves phil too and he now loves her, but she is a little wary of him, I am not sure how much she has been around men and certainly not humongous giants with big feet like Phil! Within an hour she was on the sofa making herself comfy and then soon found our bed too!

As you can see she is a little on the chubby side as she has been spayed recently, but nothing walks and light food won't shift, we will lose weight together.

At night she tends to get on our bed for a cuddle before getting into her own comfy bed on the floor, but last night she was actually in our bed under the cover! She also stayed there for quite a while until moving to the end and lying down. Then in the night we were woken up by her barking at another dog staring back at her from the mirror! She is such a character, I am really looking forward to our life together. I am sure there will be more updates on Ruby here soon.

x

Weighted Thursday- 7lb success!

I have finally reached the 7lb loss mark and am so chuffed. After a lot of ups and downs in weight gain and loss I am now feeling like I am in control and well on my way to losing my weight ready for being a brides maid at both my friend and then my brothers weddings. I am aiming to be a size 16 by Easter so I am definitely on track, in fact some tops that I have recently purchased were a size 16, so really only the trouser size to work on!

Getting Ruby will really help as I will be doing a lot of walking!

Ruby Valentine, AKA The Love Dog

Life is very busy at the moment, and is just about to get busier. This Saturday I am finally getting my own dog. I have grown up with dogs and had never been without a canine companion or two until I left home to go to uni. I never moved back home after uni and due to living in with families and friends I have not been able to have one of my own.

Now that me and Phil have a place of our own with lot's of great walks on our doorstep we are taking the plunge. We have decided on a 5 year old Japanese Shiba Inu as I have owned one before and know what to expect. We don't have the time at the moment to commit to a puppy, but an older dog will fit us perfectly. Her name is Ruby and she has been living with a breeder and been showed up until now, they have lot's of dogs that they show, so when they get as far as they can with them in the show world, then they re-home them to a loving family where they can relax and just enjoy being a dog.

We are getting her the day before Valentine's and she is in fact our joint Valentines present, so hence we have named her Ruby Valentine which she is also lovingly referred to as The Love Dog!

I am so excited, I am really looking forward to walking her, I love walking but hate walking on my own, it also gives me a reason to exercise and no excuse can get me out of it, so hopefully it will aide my weight loss. I Hope it will also help me to make new friends around the holiday park and in the area. I can't wait and needless to say I have not yet shut up about it!