Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Surpassed by One Point Two

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Weight Loss Goal Achieved

My goal was to lose 50 pounds by June 19. Today is June 15, and I’m happy to report that I’ve lost 50 pounds! And then some. 51.2 pounds to be exact. I’m really proud of myself and feel good about where I’m at right now. I’d like to be about 15 pounds lighter still, but in due time. And according to my BMI, I’m no longer obese. Just overweight. I never believed much in BMI anyway.

Weight History June 09 Right now I am wearing a size 12 dress pant. It’s a little loose, but I didn’t dare try on a 10. I think I’m probably more like an 11 right now, but of course those don’t really exist. And it really depends on the brand. Some of my 14 pants would be too tight if they were 12s. Fashion’s weird like that. Before, I was getting too big for my size 18 clothes. I would have had to start shopping at new stores if I had gotten bigger, because normal stores don’t carry size 20. And I didn’t want to be a size 20. My very first goal was to lose 50 pounds by Christmas 09. I had an exception to that goal that it would still be met if I was a size 10 by Christmas but not 50 pounds lighter. I wanted to cover my bases in case I got smaller in inches, but not lighter in pounds. Almost have met both goals.

I was afraid I wouldn’t make it by today (though my goal was the 19th, I weigh myself on Mondays, so secretly I wanted to make it by the 15th). I was at 48 pounds last week, and had gained a couple weeks before that (the result of eating too many peanut M&Ms at Marissa’s graduation party without knowing the serving size or calorie amount. Yowza!) So I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to lose 2 pounds in time. Especially since we ate out more times this week than we eat out in a month. But I was somehow able to make it work in my caloric budget. I’ve got a good routine now of waking up at 6:30 to exercise for 25-45 minutes while Miles is sleeping and showering. Then I get ready. I don’t go in to work at the City until 10, but sometimes I work in the morning at one of my other jobs.

Holli Which reminds me, I haven’t told you about that really. I’m working for Scott Meyer Photography. Sound familiar? He took our wedding photos! I’m his first employee, outside his immediate family, so it’s new territory for both of us. I’ve been doing graphic design, marketing, sales, assisting on a photo shoot, and general errands around town so far. It sounds like in a few weeks I’ll be photographing an event downtown for him, too. It’s exciting stuff and I love what I’m doing there and hope this can stick. Once I’m done at the City, I’ll be working more like 30 hours/week for him. So far I’ve been working from home on design stuff, or in the studio being trained.

I’m also working about 8 hours/week at Macy’s. Actually, it’s for Pea in the Pod, which leases a department with Macy’s. It’s nice because I get a sweet Pea in the Pod discount (which I don’t need yet, but some day might) and a sweet Macy’s discount. We also carry Motherhood Maternity, which is more of my price range (Old Navy, Gap, etc. comparison of clothing) but still a little spendy. Pea in the Pod, even on clearance, is pricey (high fashion, downtown boutique, etc. comparison of clothing). But a few nice pieces here and there are always good additions to any wardrobe! Last week I worked 12 hours, this week will be 16 (my manager is on vacation), but from then on it will be about 8 hours. There’s only two of us to staff that department, myself and my manager, but because it’s in Macy’s, if one of us isn’t there, they cover it. If it were a freestanding store, someone would obviously need to staff it during all open hours.

So, I’m working three jobs. It wasn’t intended to be that way. I had already interviewed with Pea in the Pod and contacted Scott Meyer Photography before my employment with the City was extended. I’ll be down to two in just a couple weeks. Somehow, we’re supposed to pack up the apartment during this time because we’re moving in three weeks! And I’m a little controlling when it comes to some things, so I don’t want to leave it all up to my dear husband. But he can pack up his books by himself. I might be too tempted to chuck ’em.

And this post wasn’t meant to be this long in the beginning. But I started talking about things that I realized I haven’t told people. So now you’re told. Fifty pounds lighter, two jobs heavier.

New Hair

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Cut 10″ off my hair today for Locks of Love. I had decided to do this in May or June back in November and have been growing it out ever since. Miles has never seen my hair this short.

Before After

I like how it looks. The picture makes it look a little “Princess Leia” ish. But it’s not in real life, I swear. I could fit it into a teeny tiny pony tail if I had to. But I don’t think it’d be worth it.  I’m afraid it makes me look fat and counteracts the work I’ve done trying to lose weight. I hope that’s not the case. I still like it, anyhow.

News, News, News

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Big news this week in the Miles Rausch Family.

  1. House We’re moving. We’ll still be in Sioux Falls, though our zip code is changing. We’ll be tons closer to Miles’s work and many other places we frequent. Though we love the east side of Sioux Falls, we find ourselves traveling to the other side for food, shopping, entertainment, etc quite often. We weren’t looking to leave this side of town, just the right place happened upon us at the right time and it happens to be more centralized in town. We’ll be renting this house. It’s bigger in square footage, not TONS, but much more storage space which will make the living areas much more liveable. For instance, instead of a storage room with a bed in it (like our guest bedroom pretty much is now) we will have a guest bedroom. And the crap will go elsewhere. It’s two bedrooms, one bath, a sitting/living/dining room, (all wood floor, or maybe laminate, I’ve only seen it once and I didn’t pay attention to that), kitchen, and pantry on the first floor. And a large finished family room with fireplace and unfinished laundry/storage in the basement. We’ll have a garage and a yard. We’ll have a backyard for the first time in our lives. Well, besides when we lived with our parents. All the appliances will stay, including laundry and dishwasher. It’s a very nice home (with LOTS of windows) and we’re renting from someone we know and trust. We’ll send out our new address before we move to those who would want it, but we won’t be moving until the end of June or beginning of July. Pictures of inside to come eventually.
  2. My job with the City was supposed to end May 29. My supervisor talked to me on Monday and said there’s room in the budget to extend it for another month! While it may feel like it’s just delaying the inevitable, I’m thankful for more time to work at a place I enjoy, within my field, and of course, for the extra paychecks. This will prove to be helpful with any moving costs we’ll have in June and the little things we might need to purchase. (Like drapes for all the windows!)
  3. I also have good news on the job front for part-time during the next month and beyond that I don’t want to talk about too much publicly, as details haven’t quite been worked out yet. But it’s exciting and what I consider to be a big opportunity for both parties involved. Stay tuned, loyal MRF readers.
  4. Miles moved from his cubicle into a vacant office at work and we need to do some thinking on how to decorate it. This week, he also had good news at work that will make life a little easier, and all of this seems to have come with perfect timing.

God is good.

Feeling Lighter

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Honestly, it feels like Miles adjusts the scale every week so that when I step on it, I see the numbers I want to see.

But then he’d also have to be adding fabric to my clothes to make them bigger and going to the stores where I buy new clothes and switching the tags. He’s clever. But he’s just not that clever. And I’ve never seen him use a needle and thread.

So, it must be that I’m still steadily losing weight. My weigh-in this morning shows that I’ve lost 40.6 pounds! Because the loss has been so gradual, it’s only been recently that people who see me fairly often have noticed. Several coworkers have even taken notice and asking for advice.

You  might remember that I posted my weight-loss goals. I have since adjusted the last one, since it appears I underestimated my possible success.  The original final goal was to lose 50 pounds by Christmas. I changed it to be June 19, which some of you might remember was our due date. I think it’s a goal I can meet, but still need to work hard for because I’ve got 6 weeks to meet that and I’m not sure how easily this last 10 might come off. I’d need to lose about 1.6 pounds every week. But I will be working hard towards that goal!

After that, I’d like to keep going if it feels right. I will re-evaluate at that time. Thanks for all of your support. I will keep you updated on my progress!

Prom IMG_8118

The first photo was taken in May 2008 and the second in April 2009. I was about 5 months away from my heaviest in the May 2008 photo!

An Explanation of Events

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

DFK logoThe final Dear Future Kids episode for our first pregnancy. We understand not everyone wants to hear about what has happened over the last four months, but we know some do and all are welcome to tune in.