Cookie Exchange

The holidays are quickly approaching, some stores already think Christmas is here, and a few girlfriends and I are doing a Cookie Exchange for the first time this year. 

We are doing it a little different in that we are each choosing 2 recipes and meeting at my house and baking all of the cookies that day.  At the end of the bake-a-thon we will be walking home with cookie tins full of all varieties of cookies!  Here is the question to you all:  What type of cookies should be my 2?  What are your favorite type of Christmas Cookies?

I was thinking of this little gem as a possibility:  Spritz



And maybe these as my 2nd option. - Linzer Cookies

Here is the problem, I love dessert and love so many types of cookies (mainly those without chocolate in them) that it is hard to choose just two.  I also feel they should be "different" from the norm to add some character.  What do you all think?

Iron and Candy

A day late with this post but we were busy yesterday so that is a good excuse! 

Yesterday, we celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary!  Everyone always says time flies.  It is so true since it doesn't seem like it was seriously 6 years ago that I was walking down the aisle and getting married.  Needless to say, it has been a wonderful 6 years and I look forward to many more!

Before and After 40

I am still at 40lbs down and holding!  I have been working out with a personal trainer once a week since March and although the scale hasn't moved I have dropped another pant size due to "trimming the fat".  I am not complaining there! 

When I started to loose the weight a  lot of people kept saying "Wow you lost a lot of weight in your face.  I didn't think your face was that big."  I think these pictures below of the before and after truly show that.

I officially went from a size 12 (probably should have been a 14 but I refused to buy a 14) and now I am a 6!  It took me from May 17, 2011 till a little before March 15, 2012 to reach my goal of 40lbs. 

It amazes me how much I let myself go considering how hard you have to work to take it off.  During the 10 months it took me to loose the weight, I had set milestones up so that I would push myself to get to a certain weight lost by that certain date.  Most of the dates dealt with vacations.  Heather helped me to the first one because we were headed on vacation with each other to the OBX and we both wanted to loose 15lbs by then.  Although I missed each of my milestones by a few pounds and ultimately didn't reach my goal by Christmas which was our trip to Hawaii I was damn close and ultimately felt good about me and who I was then. 

How did I do it?  Running lots of miles.  It started with barely going out for 2 miles and then slowly adding on and on until I hit my max mileage of 8 miles in August 2011 and it felt great!  I did watch my portion sizes but not once would I not have dessert or that something special because in my mind you need to enjoy life and I refuse to "give up" the things that I truly enjoy.   

Today I still set goals which help me going.  I recently completed my first ever half-marathon, I still work out with the personal trainer once a week at my house, I still go out running, I still watch my portions although I don't eat nearly as much because now my stomach gets full quicker as it is used to smaller portions and I still eat and drink that things that I enjoy.  It is the balance that I keep to enjoy life and keep healthy. 

What is the next milestone?  Scott and I are talking about running the NYC half marathon in March as long as it falls before our trip to Hawaii.