Another Year Older

On Friday April 16^th I was blessed to celebrate my 36^th birthday. It has been an awesome weekend spent with my family and friends.

My sweet co-workers treated me to lunch at one of our favorite dining spots Doc Chey's. It was on the first restaurants we tried when I started the 101 journey. I am so glad still get a chance to frequent some of the spots. Ironically, Doc Chey's new location is housed where Stella's was. Sadly, Stella's closed a few months back but I am glad I had a chance to dine there.

Later that evening, my sister, nieces and a few of their friends arrived in town to celebrate my niece K's 16^th birthday. It was double celebration as we learned that niece M received a full tuition scholarship courtesy of her father's employer. We decided that the Marietta Diner would be the perfect spot since they have an extensive menu selection. Everyone was pleased and full by the time we left.

Saturday started with us mapping out a plan of assault to find the perfect prom dress for niece M. After learning that the dress she wanted was not in stock we convinced her to try on some dresses just to get a feel for it. The first dress she tried on was perfect and she instantly fell in love with it. After trying on several more that didn't appeal to her I asked she try on one more. We all loved the last one more than the first and I am so glad she chose that one. She will look amazing! Later Saturday afternoon, my sisters and nieces attended a step competition. L and I decided to go Wet Willie's for some daiquiris. We had a great time just people watching and soon realized we were some of the oldest people in the room. He quickly pointed out that now I am older than him. Well at least until June when he turns 36 as well.

Today we attended the Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park. The weather was perfect and it was an absolute beautiful day. I really enjoyed checking out the different pieces of jewelry, sculpture and paintings. There truly are some talented people.

I am now officially T-I-R-E-D but happy. It has been an amazing weekend of food, drinks, shopping and laughter. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday but with the people I love and who love me.

Smooches!

It’s been two months?

It looks like the procrastination bug has caught up with me again. Despite not updating the blog, I have actually made some progress over the past two months.

During Lent, I decided to give up refined sugar products. It was a little hard for me since I had convinced myself I needed something sweet each day. My baking didn't help that either. Nevertheless, it was not as hard as I thought it would be. I learned that I can drink diet coke and eat sugar free products or go without it all together. Since completing the goal, I am trying to continue keep my refined sugar intake extremely low. Hopefully, my glucose level on my next physical will reflect a decrease. There is a history of diabetes in my family and I don't want to go down that road as well.

As a result of my sugar intake reduction, I've seen some additional pounds drop off. So far I am at 11 out of 30. I hope to lose one pound a week. To aid in my weight loss, I began going to the gym again. This is my second week of working out. It really helps that two of my co-workers have committed to going with me.

Plans are in the work to attend Essence Festival this July with four of my girlfriends from college. This should be a great time since we all haven't been together in ages.

Lastly, though not on my official list my husband took me out for some weapons training. Yep I learned how to fire a gun. Can't say that I look forward to doing this again but I'll know what to do in case I ever need to.

Only a couple of the shots actually belong to me. Husband is a better marksman than me. :-)