Today Sucked.

I dont know if I ever want to set foot in the salon again.

Reflection

I know that it has been too long since Ive logged in and wrote about our life here in Dallas.  But tonight I dont want to talk about right now.  I want to talk about the past.  Ive been so morose recently that maybe typing it out will allow me to get past everything I am feeling.  SO here it goes.

When I was 16 years old I discovered pop punk, punk, emo, screamo, and a lot of other genres of music.  Good Charlotte, Matchbook Romance, AFI, Cute is what we aim for, Blink 182, and Hawthorne Heights truly understood my angst.  Yet there was nothing at home to be angsty about... And that was enough to be angsty about.  I didnt have a boyfriend, I was a weirdo, and I was the DUFF of my friends.  (Designated Ugly Fat Friend)  I was nice, blonde, and an outcast.  I wanted to know about the heartbreak they were singing about.  I had crushes but I was so scared to talk to boys.  SPOILER ALERT I didnt even have my first kiss till I was 17.

There were other things to be worried about.  I was bullied.  The mean girls hated me and I had no idea why.  I would get notes in my locker that said horrific awful things.  They threatened my life.  I wanted to die.  Why?!  Why did they have to be mean?  I would cry at night.  I would lay on the floor of my bedroom and stare at the glow in the dark stars on my ceiling and blast "Hold On" by Good Charlotte.  It was the only thing that kept me from taking a flying leap into destroying myself.  I would repeat these lyrics to myself...
"This pain you cannot bear

But we all bleed the same way as you do
And we all have the same things to go through

Hold on, if you feel like letting go
Hold on, it gets better than you know

Your days, you say they're way too long
And your nights, you can't sleep at all
Hold on
And you're not sure what you're waiting for
But you don't want to know more
You're not sure what you're looking for
But you don't want to know more"

I even had them printed out and hanging in my locker.  

Fast forward to senior year.  I had a job at Hot Topic and I loved it. I had a few good friends.  I drove a Mustang.  I started dating and things got so weird.  I liked this guy in my AP Gov class a lot and I found out he was kind of into me too.  But high school sucks and his friends didnt like me so we were only a thing for a few minutes.  His stupid friends were sending my awful disgusting texts and it hurt so bad.  And then that spring break he popped back up on my radar.  We spend one long night talking out at the river.  I still sometimes think back to that talk... And the talks weve had since.  We were always better as friends but sometimes you wonder what if.  And then the guy I had been friends with for two years asked (and who I had a BIG crush on) asked me to prom.  And he ruined one of my favorite songs in the process.  I wouldnt realize that till later on.  We went to prom and it was great.  I dont remember much of the dance.  I remember the talk we had after.  I went to sleep that night on cloud 9.  I woke up the next morning and suddenly it was graduation.  It came and went.  Nothing to really talk about there.  I walked with my best friend and we went to the all night party.  

That summer is a whole other blog post.  In fact each of those events are worthy of their own post...

Thinking about Jack

Weve had Jack for a long time now.  He has moved with us 4 times and will continue to move with us.  He was adopted, returned to the shelter, and then adopted by me.  He has been through a foster dog and then us rescuing Moonshine at the start of Spring.  He has sneaked out of the house once or twice and gone on his own adventures.  I think its time for me to start putting his stories down.  I will be starting a new blog just for him.  I cant wait to go on that adventure with him!

XOXO Jordiddley

Catching up

Life has been so crazy. I feel like I never have time for anything. As I'm writing this post I'm realizing I should be asleep but as usual I can't.
We love Dallas! Payne likes his job with Vivint and I live my job at the salon in Fate, TX. Jack loves being annoying as usual!
My brother Dillon is on a mission in Ohio and just hit his year mark. I can't believe it's been a year! Holy Cow!

I know...

Since the move and finding not one but two jobs i have been slacking on keeping up with the White's.  BUT I am looking forward to this weekend.  We are off to North Carolina to go see Paynes family!  I am incredibly excited!  And then on August 1st I am starting the Whole30 program.
I think it will be a good choice for me because its more about what you are putting into your body and portions versus counting calories.  Hoping maybe a few of my friends will do it with me and it will be a journey for all of us.  I know Payne will be doing it for two meals a day because Im not buying anymore junk for our house.  Im done with all the snacking and what not.

Jambalaya, Tornadoes, and all things Spring!

I love the weather here in Texas.  Its been warm and humid and DELIGHTFUL!  But then BAM!  We're in a down poor and the Tornado sirens are going off.  (If you dont know what I mean heres a picture of what they look like...)

Apparently a funnel cloud touched down in North Dallas and that caused all the action.  BUT the best part I haven't even gotten to!  The best part was while all the action is going on I'm at Target getting some groceries!  I was getting ready to walk out of the store when one of the Team Leads stopped me and said he couldn't let me leave the store.  At first I thought he was accusing me of something so I got all defensive.  Then he realized what I was thinking and was all No No its because theres a tornado warning and they want everyone to stay inside until the warning passes.  So for 15 minutes we hung around the back of target in the furniture area.  Once it passed we all joyfully left to go our separate ways.  

This is where the story gets funny... The reason I was at Target was because I was getting things to make Jambalaya.  You want to know why I want to make jambalaya?  Because two weeks ago we were talking about kielbasa sausage and I purchased some but it was a special kind and couldn't use it like I normally would because it had special flavors.  So I was sitting at work today BORED OUT OF MY MIND and thought I should Google easy jambalaya recipes.  Well I'm not one for sticking to recipes but here is a link to the one I based mine off of.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-cajun-jambalaya/

I didn't use chicken, doubled the amount of sausage, didn't use salt, and made this Payne's favorite thing in the world to eat.  Seriously.  

Mom, If you're reading this, MAKE IT!  Totally worth the try.  (And I put the link on here and made sure it went to the right place!)

Here's a picture of the finished product.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Now what I really want to talk about...

I get asked a lot of times at work where I buy my clothes and why I get such great deals.  Well I am a bargain queen!  I love a good sale and pay attention to when stores are having specials.  So I decided to start posting outfits and where I get everything in the picture.  Remember: Things I buy are on sale and are on clearance.  Or they come from Ross and TJ Maxx.  Theres no guarantee that you can find them.  But you can definitely go searching for your own ideas!

So here is outfit number 1.  The one that started this mess!

I'll start by saying this.  Im a curvy girl and I have a modesty thing.  Like I am super modest.  Anyways...

The dress: Lane Bryant, Clearance for $45.99 (originally $68) but clearance was an additional 50% off taking it down to $23.00 but I also had 30% off my entire purchase so that brought my final total down to $16.00!  (The belt came with the dress!  SCORE!)

The boots: www.JustFab.com , if you sign up for their website your first purchase is $20.00 so these boots were only $20.00

The scarf: Dots. the store is closing so everything is 30% off.  The scarf was originally $7.99 but with 30% off I got it for $5.60!!!

The Leggings: Old Navy, If you are an Old Navy card holder the offer events called Stuff and Save.  Basically what it means is whatever you can "stuff" in a tote bag they will give you 30% off.  BUT ONLY if you are a card holder.  So the leggings were originally $10.  I got them for $7.

Sunglasses: Gap, Clearance for a $1.50.  

And my outfit comes to a total of $50.  How sweet is that?!?!?!

Heres a few tips for curvy girls.  

These are my go to stores

*Deb

*Lane Bryant

*Torrid

*Maurices

*Dots

*Ross

Next, everything eventually goes on sale.  Torrid and Lane Bryant always have some kind of sale going on.  Sign up for their emails because they send out their sales all the time.  AND ALWAYS check the store before you buy online.  Sometimes the stores will mark things down but on the website you will still pay full price.  Be vigilant.  It pays off!  Until my next outfit! 

XOXO,

Jordan

And finally a post about me!

So I did a transition as well.  I went from a natural blonde to lavender and then to platinum.  The pics are below!

Natural 

(7N + 6 Violet color shots + 10 Vol)

to Lavender 

(Pravana Lavender plus some conditioner)

to Platinum 

(2 scoops Blondor + 20 Vol from root to ends under a heat lamp for 25 minutes.  Deep condition as needed)

Also in that first picture I used this new makeup I am in love with.  You can find it on Sephora's website or in the store.  But heres what it looks like.

And heres a description:

SEPHORA COLLECTION

Perfection Mist Airbrush Foundation

ITEM # 1507367 SIZE 2.5 oz

And heres the link:

http://www.sephora.com/perfection-mist-airbrush-foundation-P381155?skuId=1507367

To get us caught up

So then we celebrated our anniversary!  This is a pic from the dinner we had at one of our favorite places called Razzoos.  Its a Cajun inspired restaurant.  

Then time fast forwarded and it was suddenly my birthday!  So I had a free meal at Benihana's and thats where we went.  Heres a picture of me on my 26th birthday with my sweet husband!  He got me the best present in the world.  A purse I have been dying to buy but hadnt bought!

This is a picture of the Dallas temple.  I love it!  Its tucked into this neat neighborhood and its so beautiful.

This is the Dr. Pepper Ball park in Frisco.  Its pretty amazing!

This is a picture of Payne and I on the day it snowed in Dallas.  Thats about how excited we were for the snow.  "...SHUT THE STATE DOWN if it snows in Texas..." -Bill Engval

And look!  Heres Payne and Jack being incredibly cute! 

This picture was taken at the Vivint Field Professional Dinner we went to with a lot of Payne's coworkers.  It was a really fun night and it was nice to meet some of the other "Vivint Wives" 

So last weekend we went to Houston.  It was my first time ever and I was so excited!  This pic is of us at Bubba Gump's and we got to eat dinner on the gulf on a patio off the boardwalk.  It was pretty awesome.  

These are a few pictures of Kemah Boardwalk.  Its a really neat place to go.  Theres a rollercoaster and a few other rides.  Theres neat places to eat and a lot of cool shops to visit as well.  It gets rebuilt quiet a lot because of where its located!  But Its beautiful.

The main reason we went to Houston was to visit my oldest best friend Mandy.  She lives down there and we needed our Mandy fix.  She showed us around town and cooked vegan food for us!  It was pretty cool to spend the weekend with her!  This is a pic of us together right after we got to Houston!

And lastly this is a collage of our NASA adventure.  We fulfilled Payne's life long dream of going to NASA.  He was incredibly excited and was bouncing the entire time we were there.  We took the tram tour and it was totally worth it.  We got to go to the historic Mission Control and see a rocket and see where they simulate living on the international space station.  If youre ever in Houston it is totally worth the visit.  

Our new place/Christmas/Payne and Jack

So we moved to Mesquite Texas.  Here is a pic of our apartment.  We're in the top right corner .

We moved in two days before Christmas.  That was intense but it was great!  We love it here in Texas.  So anyways after getting everything unpacked and settled we put up our Christmas tree.  

Christmas was a lot of fun because Mandy Allred came to visit from Houston.  She and I have been friends since we were 8 years old in Achievement Days.  How nuts is that?!  Oh and Mesquite is like a suburb of Dallas.  Here is a pic of down town Dallas.

Its a really neat place!  We have only ventured down town once but thats because we rarely have time to go.  Most of the stuff we do is around the city.  I also got a job in a salon called The Color Studio and Salon.  Right now I am working as a receptionist.  I will eventually move into a stylist position but its taking me some time to get my license here.  Also Jack moved with us!  He was great in the moving truck.  This is a picture of Jack and Payne reunited after almost a month of being without each other!

Being MIA

So we moved to Texas and we havent had internet and our cell phone service sucks here.  SO here I am world!  Get ready for a boat load of posts!  

I lost track of the days...

Then I realized that it just doesn't matter.  You know why?  Because I'm still here!  I'm still doing this blog.  I don't know who reads it and that DOESN'T matter.  

Lets review the last week. 
Last Saturday Payne left to drive to Texas.  I was emotionally distraught and SUPER sick.  You see I had this gross infection on the inside of my thigh that made me feel so sick.  
Last Sunday I went to church for the SECOND time since Payne and I started dating, then got engaged, then got married...  It was so weird but slightly liberating.  I went up to Salt Lake with my sister in laws to grandmas house and we had a lovely dinner and chat.  
Last Monday I went to work and only worked like 5 hours because we were so dead.  I went home, got into bed, and bawled because I missed my Honey Bear so much!  
Tuesday I went to Lehi to visit Adrienne and have a girls day... Can I just say how cold it was?!  YUCK!
Wednesday I worked until 11pm.  Surprise... My tire went flat on the freeway and I had the nicest Highway Patrolman change it for me.  It was freezing.  Counting my many blessings
Thursday I worked maybe 2 hours before I went home sick.  I was in bed by 6:30 and out cold for the night.  I don't remember the last time that happened.  With all the stress of Payne leaving and me trying to figure out life I haven't been sleeping well.  
Friday I awoke early to go run some errands and get the most delicious breakfast burrito in Utah.  BETOS!  Kid you not!  The next time your in Orem go!  Don't think about it!  JUST GO!  Then I went to work and worked 11 hours.  I was ready to go home!  
Today I woke up and took the black car into Firestone to get the alignment done.  It only took 2 hours to do so while I was bored I was texting Payne and we were discussing the ICE STORM IN DALLAS!  Apparently its really bad.  Then I went home and cleaned the bathroom.  Then I got into the care and drove to work (in Lindon) and it took me 45 hours to get there!  Do you want to know why?!  Because the roads were icy and snowy and people lack the patience to drive in the snow.  Ugh!  But I made it to work. And that's where I am right now.  Sitting at my desk writing this blog post instead of doing my job because its ridiculously slow and I have nothing to do.  

But heres the plan for next week...
Sunday: Go to church and then pack the kitchen
Monday: Clean the rest of our bedroom and start stacking boxes then go to work
Tuesday: Laundry and plan out clothes for the next 2 weeks.  Do more packing and getting rid of useless things.  This is also my day off so I can enjoy it for a little while too.
Wednesday:  Clean off bookshelves and pack them up.  Go to work.
Thursday:  Pack all the living room except for necessary objects.  Go to work
Friday: Laugh because none of this has actually been done.  Go to work.
Saturday: Go to work and then have a fun girls night!

Friday sounds like a blast!

XOXO ~ Jord

To My Clients

I am taking appointments in UTAH for the week of DECEMBER 15th - 20th. Those appointments will be $40 for a Color and Haircut. This is the last week I will be taking appointments till February. Thank you all for being amazing clients!!!

Fancy Cranberry Sauce

What you will need:
1 Bag of Cranberries
1 Cup Ginger Ale
1 Orange
1 Cup Brown Sugar
A dash of Cinnamon


What you do:
In a sauce pan you squeeze the orange out until youve gotten all the juices out.  Mix in the brown sugar, ginger ale, and cranberries.  Once it gets boiling and bubbling you add your dash of cinnamon.  once the berries start to pop and burst youre ready to strain the juice. 

Take a strainer

(this is what mine looks like)


and hold it over another sauce pan.  Dump the contents from the first sauce pan into the strainer.  All the juice will be in the second sauce pan.  With a spoon mash the cranberries until all you have left is the skins of the cranberries.  Slowly lift up the strainer up and scrape the bottom of it with the spoon.  (the stuff youre scraping off the bottom of the strainer will look like Jelly.  Mix it in with the sauce in the second pan.

TADAH!  You have the most delicious cranberry sauce ever!

Binders for Emergency Prepardness

Hello!  I know that I didn't give a very detailed list of the things that you can put in your "Important Document Binder".  There is a couple of reasons but the biggest one is because there's so many different ways to do it.  But I will give you a list (in order) of how I made mine. 




When you open up the binder this is what you will see...

EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBER SHEET

• A box with our address and phone numbers
• A box with “essential” info for every member of our family (name, DOB, allergies)
• A box that says: “If you are unsure who to call and it is an emergency, dial 911!
• A box with phone numbers to all our insurance companies along with the insurance policy numbers (car, life, health etc)
• A box with other important emergency numbers (poison control, 24 hr nurse line, gas company, plummer, etc)
• A box with our doctor’s phone numbers.
• Husband’s family’s numbers (parents, siblings, grandparents)
• My family’s numbers
• Local friend’s numbers
• Non-local friend’s numbers
• Other important numbers

The next page will have the FAMILY EVACUATION PLAN

• If you were at the meeting I presented the binders you would have received an example of this to hopefully create your own.  If you were not there I will include all the links that I pulled all the information from.  

The Next thing I would include is a CURRENT FAMILY PICTURE.  

This is useful because if a child goes missing you will have current pictures of them and it will also work as proof that you are in fact the child's parent.

Now from here I used dividers to break the folder up into sections so that I was even more organized.  

My first section was FINANCIAL INFORMATION

• In this section I have all of our account information and credit card information (numbers, phone numbers, etc.)    This is also when I keep a copy of any loans we have (student loans, car loans, mortgages, etc.)

The next section is IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION

• In this section I put our birth cetificates, social security cards, passports, and marriage license.  The blog that I originally pulled all this information from strongly suggested having a finger print kit for each family member.

The next section is LICENSES AND OTHER IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

• In this section I have the titles to our cars, any licensing we have with the state (we have burglary alarm permits and my cosmetology licenses), and medical documents that are important (I have a copy of my claim for my surgery).  

The next section is RELIGIOUS DOCUMENTS

• In this section I put our Patriarchal blessings, any special blessings that we've saved, temple marriage certificate, and any other religious documents.

The final section is PETS

• Not everyone has pets right now so you can really have free reign with this section.  We have a cat and so we put his adoption records, shot records, vaccine records, and all health check ups in this section.  This is important if you have a dog as well in case there is a dog bite or if you are moving somewhere that has pet restrictions.  

Now I got all the information for this binder from:  http://www.yourownhomestore.com/survival-kit-series-week-23-important-documents/

This is a great blog to get information on having a food storage and a 72 hour kit.  

Day 12/418

I am not doing so great.  We have a lot going on in our personal lives that is really starting to wear on me.  So enter the Dr. Pepper.  I know its not healthy and I know I sound like I'm making excuses when I say "well its better than doing _____(fill in the blank)____"  And I guess in some ways I am.  But I need and MUST do better if I want to feel better.  So I'm back on the wagon... I am not going to beat myself up about it.  I am simply going to recognize that its a sign of weakness that I need to over come with lots of practice.  Its also helpful that I am reconnecting with old friends (aka Mandy) and spending time with people who care about me (Adrienne, Kelsie, Dan, Melissa, and Payne).  

BUT silver lining...

I found something for breakfast that I LOVE!!!

Especially this flavor with a splash of Tabasco. 

I add a slice of this bread toasted with a smidgen of butter.  

If you get a chance test these things out YUMMMO!

Day 412 or Day 6

I caved.  I had a Dr Pepper.  I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  But I am going to be honest about it.  Adrienne and me went to Sonic to go get ice cream and she wanted a Diet Dr Pepper.  So I (out of habit) ordered me one.  I didn't realize how habitual it really was for me.  So I drank it and it was DELICIOUS!  But I realized something about it.  I can have it on occasion.  It just cant be a normal thing everyday all day for me.  Sitting here right now I can feel my heart racing a little more than I would like it to.  So I made a discovery.  That's what I am learning today.  OH and yesterday that was my first cheat day.  It wasn't much of a cheat day though because I only ate two meals.  (I was throwing up yesterday morning... I know...TMI)  I had The Rice King (which is the best food in the world) and then I had McDonald's for dinner.  YUMO!  But now I am back to my daily calorie intake.  I think I may go over tonight because Payne is taking me out on a date to get dinner... I like our little nights out.
Catch you up next week on what happens the rest of the weekend!
XOXO
Jordan

Day 410 or Day 4...

So I am four days into this calorie counting bonanza and let me tell you something.  I actually like knowing exactly what I am eating.  I'm portioning things out and really taking in exactly what I eat.  Like yesterday I measured out the correct portion of Jasmine rice I had and the Teriyaki sauce I used and the amount of chicken I needed.  Today was harder.  I ended up skipping breakfast because I was in a rush this morning to get out the door and to where I needed to be.  So I thought how awesome it was that those calories would roll over into lunch.  Then I made lunch and realized that some of the things i SERIOUSLY enjoy are not that good for my calorie bank.  Which ended up leaving dinner with 600 calories and me not so happy about it.  So what should I do you ask... Well in our Cafe at work I went and looked at what they had to offer... Deli meats and cheeses and dressings OH MY!  Or a BBQ Bar.  I went for the BBQ Pork (lets just say I only had two bites *barf*).  I then had my choice of two sides.  I ended up just getting corn because the other options were a smothered baked potato (YUM!) or 4 cheese mac n cheese.  I ate almost all the corn and then snarfed my "organic" sugar cookie... So I guess it wasn't a horrible day.  The thing I find interesting the most is that I am soda "Detoxing".  I went cold turkey Monday morning and it was hard.  I didn't get the cravings really bad until last night and especially today.  I discovered there is a link between me getting stressed out and the amount of soda I drink.  When I am stressed out and there is chaos that I cant control around me I drink soda.  It was my "fix".  I know I'm making it sound like its a drug but in some ways it was my personal drug.  I'm learning how to deal with cravings too.  I love cinnamon candy and Ive discovered that if I eat a few pieces of candy and really enjoy them, instead of just snarfing my way through a bag or box, I satisfy the craving without eating 500 extra calories that weren't necessary.  The other thing I am working on is making meals that are just enough for myself and Payne.  He is doing the same diet with me at home when I cook and its helping a lot.  He also has stopped drinking soda.  I'm really happy I have him on my team.  We both were unhealthy.  Next step is to get us moving.  We spent yesterday afternoon walking around Fashion Place Mall in Murray.  That was a lot of fun because it was just us.  Spending time together.  Being goofy.  We didn't have anywhere to be.  We didn't have any agendas.  We just were there in that moment.  Being best friends and holding hands and walking around talking about whatever was on our minds.  Those moments *ROCK*!  But anyways back to the being healthy business.  Tomorrow is cheat day.  I know not to go over board but I am looking forward to going to The Rice King.  We decided that was going to be my cheat.  WootWoot!  Chinese food!  

Day 407... Or Day 1... Depending on how you look at it.

So today was the beginning of the changes I am making.  It started off with Breakfast.  My favorite meal that can really be enjoyed any time of the day.  I wanted hash browns and sausage.  So what should I do?  Just put it in the pan and hope that I'm not going overboard with the calories?!  That's when I remembered Emily told me she downloaded an app called MyFitnessPal.  I pulled it up on my phone, put in what I wanted to eat, and it gave me the proper portions.  I love this little app.  So while breakfast was cooking I put in what I was planning on having for lunch.  Fried chicken and rice.  I found all the components to my recipe and put them all together which gave me again the proper portions.  I love it!  That left me with almost 1000 calories for snacks and dinner.  When I got to work I found out what they were serving for dinner (because my company has a cool cafe and serves decent food for free).  Pork Chops with wild rice and sauteed green beans.  Uh... Hold the sauteed goodness please I am trying to stay away from butter and oils... and I had fried chicken for lunch.  So I had the pork and a few bites or rice but I wasn't starving.  Its nice to know that if I am watching my portions I don't have to cut everything that is good in the world out of my diet.  Like the saying says... Everything is good... In moderation.

Day 405.... A new Chapter begins....

So I'm going to be frank.  I don't like my body at all.  Not one bit.  So I'm going to change that.  My life is a crazy mess right now and I feel like I've lost all control.  So here we go... I'm gaining control in something only I can control.  My goal is to be back to the size I was my Senior year of High School.  This is a picture from the fall after high school graduation.    

This is me now...

So here is the stats:

At 18 I was a size 14 

At 25 I am a size 20

At 18 I could climb stairs and not feel winded

At 25 I climb a flight of stairs and my heart is racing

At 18 I felt like I could do whatever I wanted 

At 25 I am super stressed about, money, marriage, life, and its all taking its toll...

Here's the plan

Every day I am going to get up and get moving.  I will spend 30 minutes doing some sort of activity that makes my heart race and makes me sweat.  Learn a new dance, climb up and down stairs, walk around the neighborhood, or do yoga for 30 minutes.  I will cut back on my calorie intake throughout the week and allow myself one day to eat whatever I want.  

So this is how it will work.  

Monday through Thursday I will take in no more than 2000 calories.  Friday will be my "whatever I want" day.  Saturday and Sunday will be no more than 2000 calories.  I will be cutting back on Dr Pepper as well saving that JUST for Fridays.  I will also drink at least 128 ounces of water per day.  That's twice the necessary amount required for a human being.  

I will also take 30 minutes out of my day to meditate.  To relax and clear the world from my mind.  Stress can lead to weight gain a list of problems you can have medically.  

Next I will try to go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up at a reasonable time consistently.  That is good for your sleep patterns.  

Lastly I will try to report back to you how I am doing.  On Monday I start this shenanigan and I will post pictures of the progress.  

My End Goal?

I want to be back to a size 14 by my birthday.  

I think that's a reasonable goal.  That's four months.  That's 1 and a half sizes to go down per month.  And then, if I reach my goal, for my birthday I will treat myself to a little shopping spree for some new threads!  

Here goes nothing...