Vial Of Dreams

I haven’t written a blog in a long time, but I feel that a situation with a friend warrants this. I don’t want to say names, because I want to keep her privacy, and she has shared the information with people she felt comfortable sharing with. This woman is absolutely amazing. She has a husband, a step-son, a full-time job, lots of really cool hobbies, an adorable dog and most importantly, the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, her smile has faded due to grief and sorrow. With Mother’s day approaching, she doesn’t feel appreciated although she should be, and this enrages me to no end!

Here is the definition of the word “mother”:

moth·er ¹  (mr)n.

So, here it is. I’ve reached my goal after a 9-month journey, that started on January 15th, 2010. I am 5’6″ and back then I weighed 217lbs according to my doctor. When I asked one of the nurses at the clinic what I could do, he told me it’s age, and there was nothing I could do. I wish I could show this guy how very wrong he was back then.

Today, I weigh less than 120lbs. (Between 119 and 120 depending on when I weigh myself.) What this means is that I am on the bottom range of my BMI, and the least I can weigh without being classified as “underweight” is 118lbs. If you’re imagining someone with skin and bones, you are sorely mistaken. I have been working out religiously, and I have built muscle. I am not buff by any means, nor do I want to be, but I am at a point where I am comfortable in my own skin.

It hasn’t been easy at all. I’ve always either been on the very top of the BMI scale, overweight or obese. Yes, I tipped my BMI scale at 35. Obese begins at 30. I’ve been on diets for as long as I can remember. Even in middle school. I’ve tried not eating after 6pm, Weight Watchers, doing silly workouts that didn’t really help along with extreme diets (even the one that tells you to only eat lettuce and avocado). Nothing worked. I kept relapsing after a maximum of three months, and gained all the weight, plus more back. Then, I moved to Austin when I was hired on by Blizzard where I had my daily free sodas (all three of them), Pluckers, fast food and hot choclate. Around the same time, I started taking Depo provera. The result: 60 lbs gained within a year. Even after becoming vegetarian, I was still unable to lose the weight, because my diet was messed up. Instead of meat, I had plenty of dairy, fries, grilled cheese sandwiches and veggie burgers on white bread with lots of mayo, salty sweet potato fries and sodas.

Seeing all the thin Hollywood actresses and skinny every-day people walking down the street caused great depression. My self esteem was low… actually, I didn’t have one. One thing I am grateful for is that I wasn’t suicidal, otherwise bad things would have happened. The internal struggle was immense. I felt trapped in my own body. I wanted to escape to be someone else, I wanted to get rid of my body and replace it with something lean and pretty, like in the not-so-good movie “Surrogates”.

This had to stop. When I weighed in at 217 lbs I felt lousy, ugly, disgusting and a true failure. Looking in the mirror on a daily basis was terrible, and not being able to fit in my old clothes was even more difficult, but I kept holding on to the hope that some day I’d be able to drop all that weight. There was a beautiful and inviting gym across the street from me. I kept wanting to check it out, but the procrastinator in me prevented me until a couple days after my doctor’s visit.To further motivate myself, I spent a grand total of $500 on a Weight Loss program. I wasn’t about to waste all that money, so I had to go through with it. After 12 weeks of intense workouts, I lost 42lbs, the person with the most weight lost in the class. My trainer and my nutritionist told the class that this wasn’t temporary. If we wanted to keep the weight off, or if we wanted to keep on dropping weight, we had to change our lifestyle. No more dieting. Instead, we needed to go through an overhaul in our lives. They had us throw out all the junk from our pantry and fill out fridge with healthy foods. In addition, they advised we worked out at least 5 times a week.

After class ended, I panicked. I thought I couldn’t do it alone. Especially when I’d hit days when I wouldn’t lose weight, I felt I failed again. But just as I was about to quit, I asked myself: “who is in-charge of my life?” The answer was obvious: it was me. I was and I am in-charge of my life. It was finally time to make good use of my stubbornness. A trait that people can find difficult to deal with gave me strength to overcome negative feelings and keep moving on. Take that, cravings and sense of defeat! Yes, I may be stubborn, but you cannot control me! I am in control of my own life, so if I say I will lose all the weight, you should be damned convinced that I WILL! Trust me, I even remember the numbers when I had such moments: 187lbs, 173lbs, 158lbs, 153lbs, 148lbs, 139lbs, 137lbs, 133lbs, 127lbs, 123lbs… But stepping on the scale days later and seeing that I had dropped more weight made me even more motivated. I wanted to keep on going! It gave me strength.

I would like to thank everyone for being there for me. I don’t even know if I could have done this without all the supportive people in my life.

This is truly an amazing moment. I haven’t weighed this little since before high school. Is it over, yet, though? No, it’s not. Like I said, it is a change of lifestyle. Though my weight loss journey ends here, my leading a healthy lifestyle continues, and my quest to maintain a healthy body starts today. 

Thank you for being part of some of the happiest and most gratifying moments in my life. Now, time to train for some competitions. Anyone want to race me?

I am happy to report that I have a job! It only took roughly 5 days to get the interview and a total of 9 days to get the job. I will be working in another call center, but for some reason I don’t mind the idea of answering calls as much. I will once again strive for high numbers, as I have before, so look out, world! I’m baaaack!

In other news, I’ve just been accepted to write as an Examiner on http://www.examiner.com. (NOT to be confused with the paper.) For now, I’ll be writing about movies, but I want to expand my field to at least 2 other topics. Examiner.com focuses on local news or creating a local twist to national/global news. Though I am going to add a local twist to my articles, topics such as movie reviews, movie previews, personalities from show business etc. can be of interest to anyone outside of Colorado. Therefore, if you would like me to write about something, or you would like to express your thoughts and opinions on any subject regarding movies, let me know! You are also welcome to subscribe to my page there and comment on my articles. Send me any criticism you may have also. (My email is included in my bio.) My Examiner.com page can be found here: http://www.examiner.com/x-58421-Colorado-Springs-Movie-Examiner

As you can see, everything is going very well here in Colorado Springs. There is one thing that bothers me, and that ‘s the fact that I don’t have my friends here. If I didn’t have Mike, I’d go crazy. I really miss every single one of my friends, and I wish I could have them closer. Thank you social networking, for allowing me to keep in-touch with these wonderful people!

I realize I have been slacking with my posts, but I have been busy. Really! I have been busy checking out Colorado Springs and Denver, running in the Garden of the Gods while my boyfriend is skateboarding, I am also busy visiting all the awesome restaurants and cafes both cities have to offer, and overall having a great time. Of course, we have begun our job hunt, which is good, believe it or not, because right now, days just keep flowing into each other. Seriously, I even forgot the date earlier today.

We could not have asked for a better location. Our apartment is 5 minutes from the Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs, about 10 minutes from Downtown and the mall. Finally, we are able to go outside without feeling overwhelmed by the heat and humidity! It’s so refreshing! Even my boyfriend is active and goes to skate-parks on a regular basis, while I jog/run in the Garden of the Gods or Memorial Park. I currently don’t have pictures of the garden, but I hope to upload some soon.

Another great thing about Colorado is the fact that you can find parking downtown without having to look for a spot for 30 minutes, the DMV has virtually no lines (you can get out of there within 20 minutes) and wildlife is alive and well instead of lying flat on the road. The state is very energy-conscious, and recycling is encouraged. Whole Foods even recycles receipts. o.O

You never know what to expect of the scenery when you wake up in the morning. The way the light reflects off the mountains, and the dispersion of the clouds offers an entirely different perspective every day; better yet, every few hours. The view is absolutely gorgeous, and being able to see Pike’s Peak from our bedroom window is just icing on the cake! I am going to add a few photos I took on one of our drives to Denver, which is a convenient 65-70 miles from our house. Enjoy!

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I finally have a working computer with Internet, therefore I’ll give an update about our trip so far. We left Austin on the 27th, spent the night in Amarillo, Texas, then moved on towards Albuquerque, New Mexico where we’re staying until the 30th, when we’re going on the final stretch of our journey towards Colorado Springs.

We arrived to Quality Inn in Amarillo after an 8-hour drive. As good as it felt to see our destination from the outside, our joy was quicly replaced by disgust upon entering the room which smelled like dirty, wet dog. The air refreshner they gave us was of little help, and it took a few hours for Orion to realize he was the only animal there. I would have been glad to submit a review online, but the only functioning computer proved to be slower than the computer I had in Romania 6 years ago. Needless to say, the morning couldn’t have come fast enough.

After breakfast, we headed to New Mexico and arrived to De Burque after 4 and a half hours. Orion had been taking the trip really well, thankfully, without the use of any medication. It’s really nice being able to hang out with my boyfriend’s parents and friends. His mom is adorable. To make things even better, green chili is right at the tip of my finger. I had whole grain pancakes with green chili sauce at Village Inn, and it was delicious. My only concern about our stay here is Orion, who has to stay at a pet hotel, due to Precious (the kitty living at Mike’s house) being afraid of other cats. We have been visiting the hotel a lot, and it seems Orion is well taken are of. Sometimes, I feel I am being over protective, but moving can be very traumatic for cats, as they get attached to their homes.

A 6-hour trip is awaiting us tomorrow morning. Taking such a leap of faith can be exciting, but it’s also pretty daunting. I hope we are able to settle in the Springs easily and find good jobs quickly, so we can enjoy our new found lives there.

I have been a huge football fan (the kind you play with your feet) since I was little. I still miss watching games with my dad and my grandma; we had some amazing times. My passion for this sport goes so far that I remember crying when the Romanian National Team lost important games. Times have since changed, and my National team hasn’t even gotten qualified to any championships since Euro 2000. Luckily, I am now a resident of the United States, so I can have two National teams to root for, and thankfully the US qualified for this year’s World Cup.

Which brings me to today’s topic. Never underestimate a team. Ever. Regardless of who they are. This lesson was quickly learned by the US team during the first half of today’s game between US and Slovenia. Their game play was disorganized, they were leaving players unmarked and they had little control over the ball. Slovenia received a well deserved two goal advantage. Thankfully, the fans’ prayers were answered during half-time, and after the break the US game play took a 180 degree turn. They were much better organized, and made a lot fewer mistakes. It was truly a pleasure to watch them play and score three beautiful goals!

… Oh wait… That was not the final score … The final score of the game was not decided by the players; instead, the official Koman Coulibaly decided it by annulling the last goal scored by the US. The reason is still a mystery. I’ve watched the replay several times and I fail to see anything wrong with the final goal. I do understand this is this man’s first World Cup game, and I know people make mistakes. However, such mistakes do not have a place in such an important competition. FIFA should investigate the situation and modify the final result, but alas the result will stay the same regardless of their findings (if they even bother researching the matter). FIFA should also be more thorough when choosing their referees, because I have seen many questionable decisions from other officials in the past.

I hope that the US National Team has similar game-play in the future as it did in the 2nd half of this game (with minor tweaks, as their defense was still shaky). I know they can make it past this round, but it is up to them to make it happen. I believe in you guys, and so do your fans! Thanks for an amazing entertainment earlier today, and I hope to get to see more of it in the future.

My boyfriend and I went to Sea World San Antonio today. Though the drive there was rough (mainly because I couldn’t wait to get there), we had an amazing time. We didn’t watch any shows, as we wanted to have more hands-on interaction with the animals. They have a very well thought out experience for visitors, including close animal interactions, shows, rides and a water park. Definitely a great place to visit, and most definitely worth the drive, if you’re going in from out of town.

Feeding Dolphins at Sea World

Our first stop was the dolphin exhibit that allows visitors to come face-to-face with these magnificent mammals. They can be touched by the crowd (at the dolphins’  discretion), and if you’re looking to cool down, they also ensure a nice, cold splash. Feeding is every hour, and if you’d like to get even more personal with the dolphins, you can purchase a container with food for $6 and hand-feed them. This is a truly amazing experience, and of course a great chance to earn bragging rights.

Then, we visited the sea lion enclosure. The sea lions were as playful as ever, but a few of them chose to laze around in the sun (as shown in the picture). Visitors are able to feed them as well, feeding occurs at all hours except during shows. Today’s menu: capelin. Sadly, there was no free-for-all petting here, but they do have special (and very expensive) programs for this.

Next, we stopped by the lorikeets, who were eagerly waiting for lunch. For $4 visitors can give them a cup of nectar, and as the picture shows they enjoy it very much. This is an excellent opportunity to interact with the inhabitants of Sea World without being in danger of getting  completely soaked. Aside from lorikeets, Sea World houses other birds such a pelicans and penguins. There are currently have a few younglings among the penguins, but visitors can only get up-close if they’re on organized group tours, that need to be booked in advance.

Shark Exhibit

During our visit, we also saw the shark enclosure with sand-tiger, nurse and brown sharks, as well as stingrays and other smaller fish. Thankfully, the sharks get fed often and have a low metabolism, so all other inhabitants of the tank are safe. There are a few other exhibits in proximity of the shark tank, including a frog tank and  coral reef exhibits (the coral appears fake, except for one smaller tank) housing a wide variety of colorful fish.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience, but with a price. General admission is almost $60, that can be upgraded to an annual pass (not including parking), visitors have to pay extra if they want to feed the inhabitants of Sea World (anywhere from $4 to $6 per container of food), and all programs and tours cost extra and require admission to the park. The food is expensive as well, we purchased a bottle of water for $3, but this just comes with the business. It may be a safe haven for aquatic (and some non-aquatic) creatures, but it is a form of entertainment. I am still a bit taken back by the fact that they serve a ton of food items based on a carnivore diet (there were hardly any vegetarian options), and they sell many leather products. I suppose this too comes with the entertaining nature of this establishment.

The trip was worth it, and I would love to go back there again and experience some of their programs and tours. Being so close to the animals and interacting with them allowed for a special and rewarding experience.

Since I want to write about different topics, I’ve decided to make a new blog for each topic to organize my entries based on their contents. Let’s face it: simply categorizing entries is not a solution. Posts will appear on the front page of a blog regardless of category. Call me neat-picky, but I am not a fan of reading about weight loss and purple ponies on the same page.  I will ensure to post links to the blogs I am creating, in case any readers of this blog are interested. The one I created today has my weight loss journey in it, and nothing else. You can locate it here: http://journeytowardsagoal.wordpress.com . I will no longer be posting details about my workouts here, instead I will submit entries about this topic on my new blog.

In other news, I had the opportunity to hang out with my boyfriend and a few friends for a birthday dinner. It was great to see faces I haven’t seen in a while. It really reminds me that we only have *two weeks* until we move to Colorado. It’s insane! time is going by extremely fast, and I worry that I won’t be able to see everyone before we leave. My honey and I plan on hosting house parties within the next couple weeks to have some fun before the dreaded job-search awaiting us in the Springs.