Secret-Truth.net

I just stopped in this morning to say that I finally broke out of the 190s. My scale sung to me this morning with 189.6… I’m so excited!!

Have a great day!

I spent almost the entire month of April in Michigan. My family is all good so no worries. We ended up firing a gal up in our Detroit office (she’s worked with me for years and something happened and she turned to the dark side - like a spoiled egg) so they needed so major help. So it put the hard core dieting back a little bit, but I have still been doing well.

I’ve done a few weigh ins at MRC since we started and so far, as of yesterday, I’ve like just over 13 lbs. That was on day 34. So not to shabby. DAN and I are both doing well sticking to the menu but I am quickly getting bored. This is exactly what happens every time I diet… bordem sets in and then I lose it. I have been cheating here and there (since I have been back from MI.. we aren’t even gonna talk about while I was there) but not too bad. I had a weak moment on Friday at work and had to have a donut… then yesterday after I got done with all my weekend running around I just needed chocolate. Went right to the store and got a Reese’s Big Cup. I can say that although I have been cheating, I haven’t completely lost it and I am not gorging myself.

My goal for this week is to stick 100% on diet. The main thing I have to make sure of is that while I am at work, I make time to eat. I get really really busy during the day and sometimes just skip eating. Thats not good because then my metabolism slows and I don’t lose weight. Thats bad.

Dan has also done well and I think has lost about the same amount as me. We’re happy with the results so far and really hope that things continue go awesomely. The only complaint that I have so far is that its fucking expensive. Now we knew this going in, but seriously…. We’re spending about $80 per week on drinks and now meal replacement bars (each box of 7 items is $12.00) plus we are bying fresh fruits, veggies and meats and that adds up quick.

With that said, two items on the money front.
1. We bought a new car. Mazda 3, Phantom Blue, all sorts of fancy options. We ditched the Focus as it was getting old and soon we would have to be putting a lot of money into it. Also the Mazda is my primary ride so we are saving on gas. I drive about 12 miles one-way to work each day and Dan drives 1. So by giving him the Escape, we should hopefully save a little bit of money.

2. We starting the house buying process. We looked again at Townehomes that we looked at several months ago and I really think we are going to do it. I have filled out the pre-application form for a mortgage and will be talking to them on Monday.

Well.. we’ll see

As many of you know, I have been battling my weight for a few years. I’ve tried Adkins, Nutrisystem, Slim-fast, plain ole eating healthy, exercise, starvation and god only knows what else…
My husband saw an advertisement in the local paper for the Metabolic Research Center and he also found out that one of his colleague’s wife has been on the program and been very successful. So while I was in Orlando last week (more coming about that later), Dan went to the clinic and had a free consultation with the MRC ladies. He talked me into going too and talking to them about the program. I met with the yesterday and as skeptical as I am about the whole thing, I decided to sign us up. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get more information out of them but from what I understand its pretty much a balanced diet that helps increase your metabolism while lowering calories. Of course, they want you to drink water and exercise too. There are weekly meetings and you have to go in and weigh (no in front of people) and each which they give you a menu so that you know what your choices are to eat that week.

Dan and I go in Friday for our first introductory meeting and then we get our menu and our ’shakes’. There aren’t any requirements for food except that you have to drink at least 2 of their ’shakes’ per day. I also bought a few different types of vitamins and enhancers that ran quite a bit of money. Total, I spent $500 yesterday for both me and Dan. The program was $169 each and then as mentioned, I bought various vitamins and supplements that should last us at least a month. Along with that we have to buy the shakes which will run a minimum of $48 per week (for both of us). So it is quite a bit of money to spend, but they say they guarantee results and everyone we have seen and heard from about this says it works.

I figured for as much as I spent on the Nutrisystem food, I might as well try this. I’m on a 15 week plan to lose 45 lbs and Dan is on a 10 week plan (not sure how much he plans to lose). I’m going to try to monitor my progress here and we’ll see how it goes. I’m still a little skeptical, but I guess I can try anything once, right?

If anyone has tried this diet and has any comments, please leave them! I would love to hear your feedback and experiences.

Crafts 2000 - Monroe, MI

If you like to make crafts, you will absolutely loooove Crafts 2000. They have everything you would ever want to make crafts, art and flower arrangements. For our wedding, we visited Crafts 2000 for ribbons, “eiffel tower” vases, silk flowers, silk rose petals, candles, candle holders and I’m sure a few other things, too. WE got everything that we needed to make the two different styles of center pieces that we had at our wedding.

Crafts 2000 has great prices and specials. They also have a discount club that you can join for an annual fee that provides even more savings! We found everything that we needed in order to make wedding centerpieces. On top of all the craft type items that you can use to make your own, Crafts 2000 has tons of readily available wedding related items. They have veils, bouquets, tiaras, shoes, cake boxes, cameras, and so much more! Check out their website for this weeks promo paper.

Here’s the rub:
We needed about 30 bunches of silk roses…. they didn’t have as many as we needed and the sales associate could not tell us if they would get more in. So we ended up getting another color that was close. Another issue that we had was taht we had to very closely inspect each and every vase that we bought. Because the store is so huge and their inventory is so large, it didn’t appear that there was a great quality control going on before things went onto the shelf.

Besides that.. can’t complain too much. We got enough to cover all of our 30 tables and everyone said they looked wonderful! We alternated between the eiffel tower vases with votive candles surrounding it and a large pillar candle with the votives surrounding (15 of each). Then we had a couple more of each on the head table.. so I guess there were a few more. If you check out my Flickr photos over there on the right, you can see a few of them in the photos. I thought I had more pics somewhere, but they might have got lost on my old laptop.

Final Rating: B+

We have a great Beef Stroganoff recipe that has been in my family for a long time. As far as I know it is my grandmother’s recipe and might very well be her grandmother’s recipe. I love beef stroganoff the way my family makes it (we use ground beef, cream of mushroom soup and serve over rice), but when I saw this recipe in my BHG Bridal Edition Cookbook, I had to try it. My husband always says that his family served stroganoff with noodles so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with steak and noodles… and ya know what? This recipe is WONDERUFL!! Not only does it taste sooooo good, but it takes absolutely no time or effort to make. I made this Monday night after I worked a 12 hour day (I never make dinner when I work long days). Another great thing about this recipe is that its made up of things you probably already have in the cabinet. Just stop by the grocery store on your way home and pick-up a steak and a carton of sliced ’shrooms and you are good to go.
You absolutely have to try it!

Beef Stroganoff

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes

Ingredients

* 12 ounces boneless beef sirloin steak
* 1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
* 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
* 2 cups hot cooked noodles

Directions

1. If desired, partially freeze beef for easier slicing. Trim fat from meat. Thinly slice meat across the grain into bite-size strips. In a small bowl stir together sour cream and flour. Stir in water, bouillon granules, and pepper; set aside.

2. In a large skillet cook and stir the meat, mushrooms, onion, and garlic in hot butter over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until desired doneness. Drain off fat.

3. Stir sour cream mixture into skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve over noodles.

4. Makes 4 servings

Final Rating: A+

Did I ever mention that I chopped off my hair right before Christmas? I’ve had the same hair for about 15 years and decided taht after the wedding it was going. My hair has been one length, long and straight since I was in 6th grade. I did the same thing with it every day: wash, condition, brush, pull back. Some months I would change it colors or trim some off the end myself, but really, I did nothing.

So I found a cute haircut in a magazine after my friend Dagny made an appointment for me at a local salon and I went for it. Here’s the photos:

Before:
(please pay not attention to the fat face and stupid grin)

After:

The scalping:
15 inches off to Locks of Love

So that is that. I was very happy to be able to provide such a bountiful length of hair to Locks of Love. The gals that cut my hair said that she hadn’t seen so much hair in a long time and usually the girls that come in are scrounging to come put with the required minimum of 10 inches. To top of the ‘new me’ I was given my hair cut for free since I donated to the Locks of Love organization. It was really nice of the salon(a not so cheap one) to also donate their time and effort to the cause.

So if you have long hair and are looking for a change… go for it. I love my short hair… I’m probably going to get it cut again soon as its already grown a bit and I would like to try something a little more fierce Oh yeah.. I didn’t tell my mom that I was doing it and they came down for Christmas.. she cried, real tears, cried.

I’ve been missing in action for a couple weeks because I have been really busy at work. Last Weds, I had a day trip to Washington DC where myself and a colleague as well as lobbyist for a national association we are part of visited with various congressional representatives and staff members regarding air cargo security and some US Customs issues. Have you seen Legally Blond? yeah.. kinda like that except without a cute suits and awesome ending. We meet with some folks from the DHS committe and a few people from the Department of Means & Ways and we talked. We had a few hour long meetings and chatted about things; threw around ideas; and gave our opinions on how we thought laws should be written or what people should do…
Politics isn’t so much my bag really, but it was a great experience to see how laws are written and WHO is actually writing the laws. Very interesting. Hopefully we will make a difference in the air cargo community and other areas of our industry. Oh and I also learned that when they Capitol Hill.. they really mean its a hill… a nice hike when you are in heels I got to wear a suit and be all grown up while I was hiking up that hill and rubbing shoulders with the folks that make our country run.
We had lunch at Sonoma and it was wonderful! I had the Penne with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. For dessert, I had the espresso ice cream… yummy! We also had a latte and cookie at a little Cafe in the same area… I think it was called Firehouse Cafe, but not sure. Oh and had a light dinner, before we headed back to the airport at Cosi, a super hip, healthy and happy little place.

So thats that… we’ll see what happens. This coming Monday I will be at the Air Cargo 2008 conference in Orlando, FL. The event is being held at the Omni Champions Gate hotel… OMG, seriously looks like the fanciest hotel in the world…. I’m excited!! I wish we had extra time to hang out and stuff, but it will be all business probably. I’m excited to meet other folks in the industry and hopefully meet people that I have worked with over the last 9 years that I have been in the biz… Freight is fun.

I’m watching the season finale of Project Runway right now (needless to say I missed it on Weds while I was in DC), so don’t tell me who wins! I’ll let you know how Orlando goes!!

You may all know that my Husband plays World of Warcraft pretty religiously, well spiritually more than religious. So I was scanning silly MySpace pages today (I HATE MYSPACE!) and came across this little quiz WOW Personality quiz so… here it is honey… this is what you married!

D.J. Sound & Lighting Inc - Rockwood, MI

DJ Sound & Lighting is the in-house DJ for Crystal Gardens Banquet Center. The were the DJ that came with the package that we got from Crystal Gardens. Now this might sound scary… trust me I was afraid. But fortunately DJ Sound has a great website, testimonials and have a great presense at several of the bridal shows we went to before the wedding.

We met with Thom (the owner and our DJ) a few months before the wedding. Although we didn’t really need to, Thom took the time out to ease our nerves and just go over a few things briefly. We then turned in the forms that are readily available on their website to Thom only 2 days before the wedding. Thom worked magic and was able to make everything perfect.

We requested a semi-rare song for our grand entrance and Thom got it. We were very adamant about some of the songs we didn’t want… we never heard them. I was very aware of the fact that not only is my husband’s last name hard to pronounce, but so were lots of our bridal party’s names. Girls - write them out phonetically for your DJ or anyone else that needs to pronounce hard names. It makes a world of difference. Not only was our bridal party pleased, but lots of our guests were impressed that our DJ did so well (I didn’t tell them all the secret!). This little step will help you look better because your DJ will shine!

So anyway.. back to Thom from DJ Sound. He was great. First of all, I was very surprised that we didn’t get stuck with some newbie DJ and that the actual owner of the company was our DJ. He kept the crowd going and happy. I heard that some guests were having issues but I really don’t know why. Thom was nice enough to ask me about certain songs that were being requested. He came to me as the evening grew near to an end and mentioned that some guests were requested some ‘questionable’ songs. I told Thom that since my grandfather was still there, we wanted to keep it a little clean. He was great!

Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better DJ for the price. As mentioned, DJ Sound ‘came with the hall’ and for a prepackaged vendor, the company was amazing. Thom ran all the events well (even when I had a hard time throwing the bouquet!) and keep the night rolling. Thanks so much to DJ Sound & Lighting!

Final Rating: A-

Helzberg Diamonds - Locations nationwide and Online

I’ll start this review off with the same review that I gave at the Helzberg website about my wedding set:

“After two days of constant searching for an engagement ring or wedding set, my now husband and I had almost given up. I had an idea of what i wanted, but nothing we looked at was screaming “the one”. We finally revisited Helzberg and looked at what we thought was everything they had and finally when we were ready to walk out, Emma caught my eye. The set in the case fit my finger perfect and I instantly knew that she was “the one”. We’ve been married just over a month now and I am so happy with the set. I constantly get compliments on the setting and the sparkle of the set. I an on-the-go girl and was worried about having a ring that I might hurt, but the center stone is set strongly and not too high for daily tasks. The set is perfectly sized so that I rarely ever have to remove it. Definitely the best choice we could have made.”

So as mentioned, the set we chose for me was Emma. I couldn’t have asked for a better engagement ring and wedding band. The sparkle is amazing! We purchased my rings at the Helzberg location at the Southland Mall in Taylor, MI (we still lived up there when we got engaged). They were very nice and patient with us and that was awesome.

We then purchased Dan’s wedding band at the Helzberg location at the Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, GA. For him we got a simple band in Tungsten I think… its a brushed silver colored metal.

So Helzberg has a great selection of jewelry (I’ve gotten a few other prices recently too) and so far their staff has been pretty nice. They have kept me coming back for not only day-to-day pieces byt out wedding jewelry as well.

Final Rating: A