Easter weekend was one of these weekends that I wish could have gone on forever.  Time spent with family and just laughing, hanging out and enjoying the weather.  My cousin Brandy and her neice (my second cousin) had a birthday party over Easter weekend that was full of bounce houses, cake, presents and all the fun stuff that goes along with birthdays.  Chloe (pictured here) got all kinds of gifts.  She sure didn’t like me being a part of her opening gifts though.  You should have seen some of the looks I got for being right in the middle of the opening of presents.

It’s times like these than make me so thankful for family and the small joys that life brings. How was your Easter weekend?  Do you and your family have any traditions that you follow?

So here I go – This is probably going to be one of the more humiliating and honest posts I have written in awhile:

Running this business has taken it’s toll on me for sure.  It’s been a lot of fun and I have learned a ton of new things.  But a lot of that negative toll has been weight gain – long hours on the computer, working from home where there is a constant source of food and drinks and the ability to move from my office straight into the living room to watch TV when work is done…  It’s all been very nice and “comfortable”.

At the end of September I got the scale one morning and couldn’t believe my eyes. I weight in at 272 pounds.  It was the biggest that I have ever been and probably one of the lowest feeling moments I have felt in a long time.  I kept thinking to myself, I’m in contender weight for being a contestant on the Biggest Looser.  I knew I had to do something about this and to honest, I wasn’t really excited to get started either since I knew the holiday’s were quickly approaching.  I have quite a sweet tooth so Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually big struggles for me.

Weight is something that I have struggled with almost my entire life.  I just wasn’t blessed with a high metabolism.  I have joked for years that when I eat a chocolate chip it goes right to my gut!  And that seems to be pretty true recently.

I do have good news though, I started a pretty strict diet shortly after getting on the scale that morning and I have since lost over 30 pounds – I’m down to 242 with about 43 more pounds to go.

I purchased a device called FitBit.  It’s been a wonderful tool to help me track my fitness goals and be held accountable with friends online that have access to my profile.  FitBit keeps tracks of my steps, activity levels, calorie burn and sleep patterns.  And their website allows me to enter my weight, food intake and other activities that adjust the FitBit as my fitness level and goals increase and decrease.  I’m pretty excited about having lost the 30 pounds over the past few months.  Now I just looking forward to next 40 or so more coming off.

If you want to see my progress you can view my online profile here: http://www.fitbit.com/user/2299F3

Mainly from a personal perspective.  Spending time with friends and staying plugged in have been two of the hardest things the past few weeks.  And I because of how busy I have been, I haven’t been back here to make an updates on what is going.

Thanksgiving is upon is in the next few days and something that I am truly Thankful for this season is my family and friends.  I haven’t been home in sometime and I’m excited to see my friends and family back home.  I think I have realized the past few days how much I truly have been working to stay on top of everything going on, that I am longing for the contact with friends and family back home – just to relax and hang out.

What are some things that you are thankful for this thanksgiving?

Currently, I can’t park my truck in the garage, nor can I even open the main garage door to bring stuff in and out.  You can imagine how tough it’s been getting the lawn mower in and out of the garage through a door about the width of typical front door.  It’s been awesome – trust me.

And to make matters worse, the previous owners decided that on the outside of the house they would put up hardy plank to cover the old garage door rather than leave it exposed.  They painted the entire house a different color at one point – from blue to tan – and as I am removing the hardy plank, I see the lovely baby blue on navy blue color scheme they chose before.

I’ll post a few pictures once I get the rest of the hardy plank and wall down.

I love what I do and wouldn’t trade this for anything right now.  However, there have just been days where I want to do nothing but walk away from the computer and just do nothing.  Sitting around the pool or watching movies or even playing outside (even in this heat) would be better somedays that dealing with the needy clients.

Just thought I would take a moment and vent.

For those of you wanting to attend a UT game this fall, I have two extra tickets for most of the season this year.  One of our buddies is leaving for school for the next three years and has decided to keep the tickets in his name, but passed the possession of them over to me!  So…. Hook ‘Em Horns.

While away, I plan to post pics along the way here on the blog and on my Facebook account.  So if your one of the few people that still come around these parts, you’ll be able to check out the pics here and on facebook.  I’m excited about seeing some mountains and just get away from the heat.

Now, I just have to get packed and wake up for a 5am flight!

I recently quite my job to work and focus on my web and graphic design business CoPilot Media.  My partner and I were able to land a large contract here in Austin that has afforded us the opportunity to both quit our jobs and work full time on our business.  It’s been a huge blessing to be able to work from home and be my own boss.  But another post on all that another time.

Even though I have more free time to do the things I want to do rather than being stuck in traffic 8-10 hours a day, I have failed to keep up with my writing and updates.  And despite the fact that I used to have a good numbrer of followers, I’m sure I’m down to one or two that actually follow me or even care about what I post here.  On this 4th of July, I’m sitting here waiting for a few get together to start and thought I would come back and revisit what is or was my blog.

If you still follow or read, drop me a comment here.  I’d be curious as to who is still around here these days.

I’ll have to post some picutres of all the stuff that I have been doing the past few weeks.  It’s been quite a change around the house for sure.   But until then, I’m headed back outside to get some work done.

And a word to those of you that do have a pool and end up in a situation like myself, call your city water department and tell them that you are filling your pool.  They will wave the waste water charge on your water bill.  If you don’t do this, you will find yourself with one amazing high water bill.  So be sure to call the city and let them know how many gallons that your pool holds to allow for this waiver.

I haven’t seen the pool water this clear since I took ownership of the house.  It’s been amazing to see the difference in the water.  I even bought a few replacement parts to the pool pump like a new cover and gasket to help seal the pump and increase flow through the pipes.  I had no idea how this pump was supposed to function.  It’s like I have a completely different pool now.  And the best part of all of this is that this hasn’t cost me an arm and a leg.

Anyone that wasn’t to come for a dip, let me know!