My first post as a 40 year old.

So much has been going on lately. I just got home from Vacation with my kiddos. What a good time we had! A 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean. Zip Lining, swimming with Sting Rays, snorkeling and room service cheesecake. Wow!

The best part of the whole trip was being in the moment. I had a friend die suddenly on the 3rd of February. At her funeral they played a slide show of her life with her family and kids. I got to thinking that I have not allowed myself to be photographed for so long because of my weight. If I died, there would be no slide show. I cut out that little picture of my friend from the service program and put it in my console where I see it everyday. It reminds me that life is short and I want to live it. I was rockin' my fat self in a swim suit on vacation! And when I die...I want a slide show dammit!

It was my first cruise so I was ill prepared for the food availability. I actually pb'd 3 times on the trip. There was so much that was off limits for me. I managed to discover a few ways to "cheat" my band though. The 24 hour soft-serve machines and cheesecake didn't seem to bother my band at all.

All in all, I only gained 4 pounds in the week and had all but 1 off by this morning. So I'm back to real life and back to the grind. I'm just awfully glad to not have to obscess over my weight anymore. I knew that just getting back to my normal life would pull the pounds back off. What a blessing to be rid of that shame and torment.

I leave you with a few pictures...



Me with a pirate in Cozumel









That stinkin' room service cheesecake...it made me stupid silly!












My beautiful, hilarious kiddos.










All of us in Jamaica.