I'm at the Pearson International Airport!

Oh hello! I'm in an airport, what's up?

Apparently, the airport from which I'm leaving Toronto has free wireless internet. The Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta charges fr WiFi, so I'm not going to update from there. In the meantime, hi! I'm doing okay.

Chris's mom and brother picked us up right after I finished my last post, and we went to Harvey's for burgers and chicken fingers (guess which one was me). We then went to the airport, where we parked, filled out my customs declaration form, and checked in at Delta. The check-in lady told us that because we were early we could wander around a bit, so we headed to one side of the terminal to look out the giant windows and try to watch planes. Apparently we picked the wrong side, so we headed in the opposite direction to look out those windows. On the way a random check-in lady told me that since I'd checked in I had to go right to customs, and I got really intimidated and headed in that direction before Chris and his family steered me away and told me she was wrong and let's go look at some planes, darn it. I was worried, but Chris told me that the worst that would happen is that they might ask to weigh my checked bag again.

Eventually we had our fill of planes and it was time to head to customs. I hugged everyone and Chris and I said our goodbyes and I'll see you soons and then I went through the line of customs. I got a pleasant man who checked all my paperwork and stamped my boarding pass and passport, and then I went through security. I wore non-laced shoes, so I felt pretty smug about how easily I slipped off my shoes and that I knew I had to take my laptop out of the bag and all that. Basically, I felt like a boss. A travel boss. I made it through, didn't set off any crazy alarms, and went on to find my gate. That's where I am now.

Our plane isn't here yet, but it's got 55 minutes left to take off. Of course, according to my boarding pass it should be here and we should be boarding now, but it's no big deal. I'm sure. I'm sure? Sure. I just double checked the Delta website to see if everything was going smoothly, but it swears we're on time. It swears! Oh fun, now the lady behind this gate's desk is calling a handful of people from our flight up to the desk and reassigning them to different flights. It's only been about 10 people so far, so we'll see where this goes, huh?

Me and my eReader

There's no need to worry. For now, I'm going to close up my laptop, put delays or other plane changes out of my mind, and get down on a book or two. Right now I'm reading Service Included, Four Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter, and I'm still in the beginning of Gone with the Wind, which is a challenge to read, not because of the story, but because of every other page having really off-putting racial language that's pretty hard for this young liberal with loads of white guilt to handle.

But hey, our plane's here! I'm going to try to snap a picture and pack up my items. These are the last words I'll type from Canada in a while. I'll see you again in America!

IT'S HAPPENING!

Today's the day! I'm going hoooooome to Jacksonville! Chris and I had a special Nutella tortilla and pastizzi breakfast, then we watched the hot wings episode of Reno 911! and now we're watching Glee. And then we're getting picked up by Chris's mom and brother. We're going to lunch and then the airport. I'm nervous about going through customs and security and all that, and finding my way through the airports.

Oh gosh, aaaaaaand they're here. I'm off!

Packing

Sorry for the sparce updates, I've been packing and panicking. I'm so nervous and excited and I've really only been freaking out about 15% of the time, so that's not bad. Today's my last full day here, actually. It's hard to believe it's been six months and not something like a year or more.

I've read that the more unusual experiences one has, the longer time seems to pass. The more repetitive the events that fill a certain time, the quicker that time seems to pass. It seems inevitable that when I go home I'll have all kinds of new experiences waiting for me, but I want to also make a point of doing some unusual things to keep things interesting. Acting like a tourist in my hometown, that sort of thing. Honestly, why haven't I gone on a free Budweiser brewery tour?

I'm nervous about going home to a sick dad. I'm nervous about not being able to forget what's happening, not to be able to turn on the TV and forget that, oh man, Dad is really sick. I guess all that will help with that anxiety is to realize that Mom and Dad have been doing that for months now. And just chilling out and making the best of it.

I don't worry about leaving Chris. I feel sad about it, but I don't worry. I know I can make it and I know he can, too. We've got Skype, email, and even this blog through which to keep in touch. He told me that not waking up next to me every day would help him, would remind him what he's working for while he's at the office plugging away. I won't be here to tempt him to work half days or work from home, which usually includes a lot of video games. I'm not saying this happened a lot, but it did happen, it sometimes did.

I'm looking forward to being somewhere warm, to reading all the comic books I've downloaded, to seeing my sister and my niece and my other pups and my parents again. I'm really looking forward to working and being with LOTS of people some days, instead of just Chris and his family and a bunch of strangers on the street. I'm looking forward to trying to make my family's eating habits healthier, but I'm pretty nervous about falling back into bad habits, so it's important that I keep weighing in and logging my food/exercise here. I'm looking forward to swimming in the ocean and wearing flip flops outside and seeing George Winterling in his garden. He still does that, right?

I've got the green bag I'll be checking (for $25, thanks a lot Delta) packed, my carry-on packed, and couple other piles of things hanging around. There's a Goodwill pile and a pile to be mailed to me and another one that I'll see again when Chris and I are living together again. Big Bear's going to have to be mailed, by the looks of it, which is a little nerve-wracking. If something happens to that package I just might bring down some righteous justice upon anyone who might have LOOKED at the box. But other than that, I'm fine.

There's a Krystal and a Chick-fil-A at the Atlanta airport where I'll have my layover, both fast food places they don't have up here, so I know I'll be having one of those. Probably Krystal. I'm sure if my flight were on a Sunday all I'd want would be waffle fries and chicken fingers. I've got two hours between arriving and leaving Atlanta if all goes according to plan.

Chris and I had Chinese food this evening (this week's food has been okay but not great) and then went on a walk around the city. We got me one last doughnut at Tim Horton's and then headed home, talking about all the different places we'd been and things that we'd done. It's been a good six months. I'm ready to go home, though, it's just a big transition is all.

The Bata Shoe Museum

On Thursday we went to the Bata Shoe Museum, which was pay-what-you-can. It was pretty dark in there, and everything was behind glass, so a lot of the pictures are kind of so-so. It was interesting and really unusual, though, so I'd recommend it to anyone, particularly if they can go on cheapie night!

Platform shoes from...India? I don't remember.

Big snazzy knight shoes.

Beautiful koi shoes.

Chestnut hulling shoes!

Fantastic wooden clogs with reverse footprints carved into them to fool trackers.

The shoes from the Barenaked Ladies at the Shoe Museum's Juno Awards display.

Trying to follow a video explaining knitting in the sock room. Failing.

Pretending to eat strings with knitting needle chopsticks. That's more like it.

There was a sock puppet theater. No clue why the bunny was there.

The best shoes ever, and hose.

There was a whole room for Native American shoes, separated by region.

Shoes from Southeast tribes.

I loved this informative drawer showing what plants the Navajos used to dye their clothes.

There was a final room for historic and contemporary art featuring shoes as well as shoes turned into art.

One of the pictures from the exhibit, and a great picture with which to end this post.

Thanks for reading! Weird museums are officially pretty great.

Weigh-In #9

It's technically weigh-in #8, but as I missed the update last week and I want to keep up with my total number of weeks at it, I'm calling this weigh-in #9. I'll do what I want, thank you very much. It's good news after on week of eating pretty poorly and missing some workouts and one week of eating very well and working out a ton. I'll take it.

This week I weigh 170.8, down 3.6 pounds since my weigh-in two weeks ago and down a total of 15.8 pounds since starting this journey on January 20th. I'm still doing around a pound and a half a week, which is my goal. Now for the breakdown of the week.

How I Ate:

This week I ate an average of 1486 calories a day, which isn't bad when you consider last night's Swiss Chalet meal (just once more before I go back to Florida) and the diner meal Chris and I shared, a milkshake, a Monte Cristo sandwich (not quite as encased in batter as the Bennigan's version), and some fries. The trick this week has been planning ahead, having healthy snacks on hand, weighing and measuring out my food, and logging my calories. You can be spontaneous and say you want to have a treat or do dinner out if you know that the day before you were under your calorie limit, you've been good today, and you'll work to eat extra healthily tomorrow. You can't do that without healthy food in your kitchen, particularly sides and snacks like frozen veggies and low-calorie yogurt.

How I Moved:

I worked out or walked at least an hour five days this week. I've been getting back into weights intermittently and jumping rope in addition to my EASA2 Cardio Kickstart workouts. Weights are ROUGH, and my legs hate me, but I'm getting better at the jump rope. I feel good about working out and am thinking about how I'm going to keep active when I return home.

How I Felt:

Excited. Nostalgic. Inspired. I'm going home to my people, you know? Back to palm trees and the quiet of the suburbs. I know I'll miss my boy and my pup, but this separation is temporary, and we've waited before. I've also been very interested these last two weeks in finding out all I can about fashion and dressing myself well. It's not enough to lose weight if I stay scared to wear anything but jeans and a tee shirt, you know? So I bought some things and I'm planning what other pieces I want, and it's going to happen. I had some bad, unproductive days where I lost my time online, but I'm working on it. In fact, after this post, I'm using LeechBlock to keep myself off any and all websites until this evening. I have dishes to wash and laundry to do, and I have a great tool to help me maintain my focus on my objectives. It's pretty great.

If this image isn't immediately recognizable to you, you need to click here. Right now.

So that's this week. I'm really excited to go home under 170 pounds and to begin working on Couch to 5k. It may take a tiny investment (I need an mp3 player or to shell out money to the Apple Store to fix the battery in my old one), but other than that all I need are running shoes, which I already have. Chris and I are talking about letting me borrow the Wii and EA Sports Active 2, also, so I can probably get by without a gym membership. I have a ways to go, I know it, but I've come pretty far, too.

Less Than a Week Left

Chris, Monte, and I on a picnic at the Toronto Islands back in October.

It's official, I'm down to my last six days in Canada. I should probably start packing. Chris and I talked yesterday about all the amazing things we've seen and done together since I've been here, and it was great to think of all of our times, from watching Wicked at the Canon Theatre to carrying the heaviest bookshelf in the world across town after buying it from Ikea.

I took a picture as we rode down the escalator while carrying a bookshelf and two doors.

We shared Canadian Thanksgiving with Chris's family at the farm and American Thanksgiving in our apartment, with a chicken I roasted, impossible pumpkin pie, sweet tea, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce from a can like it's supposed to be, and squash soup. All without the aid of any kind of mixer/blender/food processor. Lots of using the potato masher and colanders, though.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on a Saturday, too. Close enough!

We celebrated Christmas together and with Chris's wonderful family. I got all kinds of great presents and had so much good food that I think about that meal to this day. We sang carols and waited for Santa to show up and I ended up reading a book all about Legos with some of the younger members of Chris's family.

Oh, and I got this sweet boxer ornament.

We ate Indian food, ate weekly meals at his family's house, and made lots and lots of tacos with turkey meat. We shared desserts and appetizers, meals and snacks. I packed a LOT of lunches and Chris introduced me to chili fries from Taco Bell. That's right, their Taco Bells have fries. And chili. I don't understand it either, but I'm not complaining.

We shared this slice of brownie cheesecake from Future Bakery.

The weather was totally different. Like I explained to Chris, I know Fahrenheit for warm temperatures, everything from 60 up, and I know Celsius for cold weather, from 10 to -15 (5-50 degrees F). I experienced my first tiny tiny snowfall on Halloween morning on our way to Mass and survived a totally unimpressive snowstorm. I also saw a car lose control on the highway and slow motion slide into the median, leaving me terrified of ever driving anywhere but Florida.

Yes, I'm falling over after drawing a heart in Chris's parents' backyard.

This half a year has been something I wouldn't give up for anything. It's amazing to go to a different country and see just how much culture they can cram into a city. I'm so grateful because six months is a while, sure, but it isn't long at all when you're with a person who calls you the most beautiful girl in the world every single day and who makes you laugh with morning dance parties to terrible pop songs on the radio, and who supports you in your efforts to better yourself. I'm going to miss the heck out of this guy. But we both know it's not the end. I'm happy to go home and be with my people, and Chris and I will go back to talking on Skype and missing each other, only this time we know how great it can be. We don't have to wonder if it's all worth it. It is. Far above the sights and experiences of this city and this country, discovering just how right things are has been the best part of my time here. It's so great that I get to go home and be with my family, back in my hometown, all the while carrying that knowledge with me.

It was nice of them to build this statue when I got here, but why'd they put some dude on top of it?

I'm sad, but I'll be okay. I'm going to miss Monte and Chris, my boys, but it won't be too long before I see Chris again (August?) and it won't be long after that that he's graduated and we can get to the business of living together in MY country. I'm excited to see everyone at home, I've never gone so long without a hug from my parents, and I know they miss me, too. Hailey's probably six feet tall by now, I can't wait to talk to Courtney again, and my Jacksonville friends are amazing.

I'm going home.

Lazy Tasty Dinner

Today was a great day for me, because I got to watch another Disney Cruiseline show with Cat, this time from a different cast. It was adorable, and I loved it. Afterward I came home and was pretty wiped from walking so much today in addition to my return to working out last night with jogging, jump rope, and strength training. I didn't want to have to stand over a stove, so I thought about what food we had and came up with a filling, delicious meal that didn't involve much standing on my poor feet, particularly at the beginning.

Dinner a la Whit:

• Cook some brown rice according to the directions. I cooked about four servings so we'd have leftovers. This takes around 45 minutes.
• Throw a tiny bit of olive oil on a frying pan that's on medium heat. Once the oil heats up, put in a couple handfuls of spinach. For two servings, I used two cups of spinach, because it cooks way down. After pushing the whole thing around a bit to get the spinach mixed in with the oil, pop a lid on the pan and let is cook for a few minutes. After a bit, just set it on a burner that has no heat or a pot holder or a trivet or something. The spinach is going to be between two hot things, so letting it cool is no big deal. You could reverse the order of this and the next step, or do them simultaneously. I'm not that coordinated, though, so I did this.
• Put two frozen turkey burgers on a frying pan and cook them according to the instructions on the box.
• Throw a slice of processed cheese (that's American cheese if you're in the States) on the turkey burger, or put some grated cheese on top. This is optional, but Chris and I love cheese, and it helps add some flavor to the dish.
• Grab a bowl and layer brown rice, spinach, and your burger on top. Cut up the burger and mix it all together and eat it. 
• Be happy forever.

It's not cooking as much as it is warming and assembling, but it's simple and easy, and the first thirty minutes, I sat on the couch. The turkey burgers we eat are 220 calories, though you could probably save some calories with home-made turkey burgers, or just browned turkey. That sacrifices some of the laziness I liked about the dish, though, so make your choices as you see fit.

The whole thing rings in at 435 calories if you use a teaspoon of olive oil (on the spinach), a cup of spinach, my particular brand of turkey burger, a thin slice of regular fat processed cheese, and half a cup of brown rice. Actually measure the rice, by the way, no eyeballing. I'm plenty full after that dinner, even though it wasn't very many calories. It's simple, tasty, and something different, and I love that I have a meat (premade frozen turkey burger patties) that I don't have to worry about thawing out, so it's always available when I'm not sure what to throw together for dinner.

Alright, time for me to work out. I hope everyone's making good choices, no matter what their goals, and getting up every time they're knocked down. We can do this.

Turning it Around

  It's officially too late to post last week's weigh-in. I took a picture on Friday morning but didn't get around to posting it due to a very busy weekend. What I would have posted, in brief, is that I haven't been eating well this week, and though I exercised and walked a decent (not great) amount, I stayed about the same weight because my eating has been off plan. We've been eating out a LOT lately. Those excuses, from, "We always said we'd eat here, and I'm leaving soon!" and, "It's our anniversary!" to, "I'm just so lazy," have added up. I even fell off my calorie counting for the first time in over a month.

We are, however, at the beginning of a new week. I'm ready to do this right. Leaving in nine days isn't an excuse, I'm going to have to eat well and exercise when I get home and when things are going on there. Sure, I'm really sad about leaving Chris and Monte and Chris's family and this amazing city, but going home is great and I miss my family so much. I need to be ready to export my good habits from here, where I have total pantry control, no job competing for my time, and where I've got a supportive boyfriend helping me get my butt in gear to home, where I have little control over what kinds of food we bring into the house, will probably have to get a job, and where, if I don't want to hear Chris asking me why I haven't worked out, I can just close the computer. I have to do this. I'm not saying that I haven't been living in the real world, but it's certainly been pretty great for making healthy decisions up here. I need to be adaptable, and it starts with firming up my habits here before I leave.

 

This morning I had my standard breakfast of half a cup of Kashi GoLean, half a cup of skim milk, and some blueberries. For lunch I had broccoli, roasted potatoes, half a sweet potato, corn, and some pork tenderloin, all leftovers, with water. Dinner's going to be a reasonable portion of whole wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce and meatballs from Chris's mom, and some steamed broccoli. It's not ideal, because I guess broccoli goes best with white sauce, but I've found steamed broccoli chunks mixed in with spaghetti sauce and noodles is really filling, particularly since you need something to compensate for the bulk of all that pasta you can't eat if you're trying to control your calories. Tonight we're doing at least one workout with EA Sports Active, and we might play a bit of the Raving Rabbids game Chris and I played last night. It was a lot of fun, and incorporated a bit of movement, as well, which is great.

Here's to admitting, hey, we've screwed up, and then letting it go. It's healthy. When you hold on to it, you think, "I messed up and had a Baconater for lunch, I might as well eat ice cream and pepperoni for dinner," instead of acknowledging that you gave into temptation, and that's not good, but now you should get back on plan to minimize the damage. One meal, one day, one week even can only be so bad. There's only so much you can eat or so little you can move. If you pick up right then and turn it around, you're set. If you live in your failures forever, that burger haunts you and affects your decisions for a long time to come.

Today's Outfit

I'm behind on my weigh-in, I know! Sorry, I've been busy and distracted. I'll try to post this week's weigh- in today, but be forewarned: while I walked a lot and the EASA2 workouts got harder, Chris and I ate out a LOT!

Until then, here's today's outfit. The (Nine West!) purse was a Goodwill find from a few months ago, the headband is from Ardene (I'm trying to stick to skinnier headbands), the pants and tiny cardigan are from Old Navy, and the shirt is from Mark's Work Warehouse. It's a tiny bit tight, but it's well made and it's going to stay in my closet as I lose weight, so I'm happy with the purchase.

The whole thing, minus shoes.

Detail of the top of the outfit.

Attempted close-up of accessories, but I didn't turn my head enough for the earring to show. Ah. well.

Chris and I are off for his parents' now, so I'll update later!

Haul

I went shopping on Monday and got some things. I might return a few (probably the bow blouse and possibly some or all of the cardigans, but here are some pictures so I can show off my shopping haul. Feel free to pick favorites!

Happy Usiversary!

Having a picnic on Ward Island.

Chris and I had our one year anniversary yesterday, which was fantastic. A year ago yesterday we realized we'd found what we'd been looking for, we didn't have to worry any more. He'd always been funny, more than anyone else, he'd always been frighteningly smart, and he'd always been cute, at least since he friended me on Facebook and I got to see his face, but only a year ago did we realize we were supposed to be together.

In front of our apartment, some of us better dressed for the weather than others.

What can I say? It's all been great. He's a sweetheart and he makes me so proud to be his one. He loves me and I love him, and almost as importantly, he loves Monte, who adores and respects him. His family is so sweet and fun, and he likes mine a lot, too.

Us at Damien's murder mystery party. Chris was a sheik and I was a Hollywood starlet!

He's just a great guy. I have a hard time believing I deserve someone as sweet, funny, thoughtful, strong, and loving as him. He assures me every morning, noon, and night that I do. I don't think there's a luckier girl in the world than this one right here.

Riding the subway, like bosses.

What can I say? I like having a guy I don't have to make excuses for, to myself or to anyone else. Explaining that, "He's not always like that," or, "I promise he's much nicer in person/online/on Tuesdays," isn't my idea of a good time. He's good. Wonderful, even. And more than that, he's consistently good. He's a rock of goodness, but not in a cookie cutter way. He's him. And that means a wicked sense of humor, a concern for the well-being of others, and a drive to set and accomplish his goals that I really admire. He's great. Just great. And he's been mine for a year.

In  front of his family's house.

We know we have longer ahead of us, as long as anyone gets. We're going to keep working for ourselves, each other, and this love. I know it's cheesy. I'm okay with that. Because this is worth it. Happy anniversary to me and this guy right here, it's certainly the first of many.