5 For 5: I CAN DO THIS Edition

Today has been horrible. Really. I have a general rule of disliking Mondays, but today was exceptionally worse. Especially after having a great weekend.

This morning I felt really ill. I threw up in my own classroom! It was terrible. I continued to feel awful all morning. Thankfully my students could tell I didn't feel well and were very well behaved. I'm even more thankful that after lunch I felt back to normal and was able to finish out the day.

Given this bad day, I'm really wanting some wine. I have a movie in, pumpkin spice candle burning, scentsy apple lighted, and my most comfortable pjs and blanket on. However, I'm on the Daniel Fast so no wine :(

BUT I have Jenn's 5 for 5 link up!

Here is a review of last week's goals: Success, Partial, Fail

1) Blog everyday (Mon-Fri).

2) Hand Write Notes

3) Track my WW Points

4) Plan for my David Fast

5) Unpack at least 2 boxes!

 

Well, now that the week is over I can finally start new. And I'm ready for a new week! 

 

1) Track my WW Points

I love having this goal because it's an easy success. Plus I HAVE to do it.

 

2) Spend my daily time with God

Doing the Daniel Fast will help me with this. I have my care group that I do every Thursday, but I really want to get deep down in the Bible.

 

3) Say 1 positive thing each day

I really want to do this on Pinterest, Twitter &/or Facebook. Positiveness=Happiness

 

4) Order/Print Pictures

This is pretty basic. I have lots of wall space & frames that I want to get pictures into. Amazingly, Snapfish is having 1 cent prints!  

 

5) Write at least 3 handwritten notes

I really love this idea, I just need to stick to it! If you want a note email me your address at arielle.hattan@gmail.com

 

Hope you all have had a better Monday! And have a great week!  

 

 

Weekly Weightloss: How I'm Dealing with Gains

I have decided I'm going to be completely honest on here with my weight loss journey. That means losses and gains.

Unfortunately, this week was a gain.

I can't say I'm shocked by this. I kind of had a feeling. I know my body, I know how I was feeling, and it wasn't so great.

When the check-in lady told me I felt defeated. I felt like a failure. I was extremely bummed. Especially because I did stay within my points limit. I had been doing so well and then BAM, knocked on my A** again. I threw a mini pity party for myself.

Then I stopped. I looked at my chart. The arrow was still below my first weigh-in. I'm still down 9.6 pounds! That's an accomplishment! So why was I being so hard on myself for a 1.4 pound gain? Because I hate the feeling that I failed.

I have decided I'm moving on. I looked at my week and decided I need to make the following changes:

1) I HAVE to get cardio in. This was terrible last week, but I just need to do it.

2) I need to be more strict with my points. While flipping through my points journal I noticed that while I stayed below my points, I didn't eat great foods. I had sugar and carbs which really affect my body.

3) SLEEP! I have a Jawbone UP band that tracks my sleep. I averaged 5 hours/night. I need to make sure I'm getting enough sleep!

So yes, I had a bad week. Am I going to let it ruin my whole journey? NO! I picked myself up, and reset my mind to being focused. This week will be better!

P.S I've been craving Raising Cane's Chicken. I've had it on my mind for over a week. I did a good workout (earned 3 points) and went and got my chicken. I enjoyed every bite :)

Day 7: Favorite Online Shopping

Hello, my name is Elle & I have a shopping problem

My life is JUST like the shopaholic book. Minus the super cute boy, the magazine job and my debt is mostly due to school loans.

While I'm trying SUPER hard to save money (No Qdoba Wednesday anymore!), I have splurged on a few of my favorite things. Enter Erin Condren

Day 7: Favorite Online Shops

Erin Condren is perfect for anyone who loves planning. Any teacher. Basically anyone who writes anything down. Here are a few of my fave things from her store.

Teacher Lesson Plan Book

Kindle Case

Return Address Labels

Notecards

I also love Lifeguard Press. I purchased a life planner last year and LOVED it. It comes with so many cute stickers, labels, and pages. They've also added a Kate Spade Collection!

Life Agenda

Tumbler

Lastly I'll share a fellow blogger's shop! I've been following Crystal for a few years and when she opened her shop I was so excited! Unfortunately as a broke teacher I can't afford much now but when I can these things will be in my shopping cart!

Now I really want to go shopping... darn post ;)

Happy Hump Day!

Blogtember: 1 Person Can Change Your Life

Day 6. Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

I love this blog prompt because it is so unique to the individual blogger. For me, it was the day I met Ron.

No he is not my husband (way too old!), he is in no way related to me. But he has changed my life for the better. I met Ron through my best friend Mary. She took me to youth group our 8th grade year. I walked in, nervous, and shy, but Ron greeted me like he had known me for years. He opened my eyes to the Lord. He made me listen to Newsboys, Toby Mac & DC Talk. He was there for me during the best and worst times of my life.

Because I know Ron, I've gotten to see the birth of his adorable girls. Watch them grow into young ladies. Babysit them for weeks at a time. Experience camp Wesley Woods and meet so many more wonderful people.

It's amazing how one person can change your life for the better.

Happy Birthday Ronnie!

Xoxo,

5 For 5

How has your week been? Your Monday? Mine was pretty good! I'm pretty proud of myself this week because I accomplished most of my goals. This week was a little hard for me because I came down with the flu on Tuesday :( BUMMER!

Source

Here is a quick recap of my goals last week. Success, Moderate, and Fail. 3/5 success... I'm happy!

1) Blog at least 3x this week

2) Hand Write Notes

3) Workout at least 4 days

4) Track my WW Points 

5) Have All My Copies for School Done

Here are my goals for this upcoming week!

1) Blog everyday (Mon-Fri).

I want to do this because I'm really enjoying Blogtember!

2) Hand Write Notes

I still think this is a great idea. I just need to sit down and do it!

3) Track my WW Points

This is an easy win for me! 

4) Plan for my David Fast

My church is doing the David Fast. I'm really excited about it but I need to plan, pray & prepare for it.

5) Unpack at least 2 boxes!

This sounds easy enough but it's not! I really hate packing/unpacking. 

What are your goals for the week?

Blogtember: I'm an ISTJ

Have you ever taken a personality test? Believe in horoscopes? I have to be honest, I don't put much stock in them. I was never one to do the Teen Magazine quizzes, nor do I frequently read my horoscope. Needless to say, I was very skeptical of this personality test. I was proven wrong! Thank you Jenni for this great idea!

Hello, My name is Elle and I'm an ISTJ (Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging).

This pretty much describes me to a T. I am definitely more partial to being introverted than extroverted. When you see me at a party, I will be in the center-ish of the room, but only talking to people who I already know.

At work (school) the Secretaries keep making fun of me because I keep complaining that my clock is off. In fact, EVERY clock is off in our school. Now I know why it bothers me so much! They are noted for devotion to duty. Punctuality is a watchword of the ISTJ. 

As do other Introverted Thinkers, ISTJs often give the initial impression of being aloof and perhaps somewhat cold. This past year I've become very close to one of my team teachers (K). K & I recently went out to dinner and she shared that she was surprised we were out for dinner for my birthday. When I gave a confused look she explained that I came off somewhat distant and aloof. Not that I seemed unwelcoming, but that I wasn't "warm". I found this very interesting because usually I get the opposite! Now that I think about it though.... I am distant. I don't share my personal life with people I work with, I don't express my opinion openly, I watch and observe.

I am a person of routine. My family and close friends can attest to this! I HATE change, but more than that, I do EVERYTHING the same once it works. They seem to perform at highest efficiency when employing a step-by-step approach. Once a new procedure has proven itself (i.e., has been shown "to work,") the ISTJ can be depended upon to carry it through, even at the expense of their own health. It's really interesting that this is so natural to me. My Mom pointed it out to me when I visited Michigan. I was cracking my knuckles and she asked me to stop. I kept doing it which made her really upset and she asked why. I explained that I HAD to finish. She looked at me like I was crazy. I had to have my "cracks" be symmetrical. If I do one hand, I have to do the other. I do it in order. First my fingers, the first knuckles then the second. Then I do my wrists, pull down on each side. Then I pull my wrist's out to crack them. I never realized this, until she pointed it out to me!

ISTJs are easily frustrated by the inconsistencies of others, especially when the second parties don't keep their commitments. But they usually keep their feelings to themselves unless they are asked. This statement is the most true to me. I bothers me to NO END when people are not following through on their commitments.

Threats to time-honored traditions or established organizations are the undoing of SJs, and are to be fought at all costs. What is your favorite tradition? What about holiday traditions? Growing up my family had theirs. We always got to open 1 present on Christmas Eve (ALWAYS pajamas). We had mince meat pie for breakfast the next day. For Thanksgiving we had all the traditional food. Your family had pizza... great for them. Try to make me eat it? I won't talk to you for a year. My family still makes fun of me for this because I'm so set in my traditions. They always threaten to change them, but they know I'll go ballistic if they do!

In doing some research of famous ISTJ people, this is what I've found. There are a lot of  Presidents categorized as this personality, most of them being republican (which I am). The person I was most excited about? Queen Elizabeth the II. I KNEW I was meant for royalty!

My Weight Loss Journey: Beginning-11 pounds GONE!

** Warning, this is a longer post and no pictures. BUT it is personal and I'd love your comments on it!**

I've been here before. This feeling where I'm going to start new. Start this crazy, new fad diet. This feeling where this will be the year that I will make the change and a year later I will be a smaller size. I will have a healthy relationship. I will be happy.

These were all empty promises.... I felt horrible about myself. I was the heaviest I had ever been and I just didn't care anymore. It was easier for me to eat out for every meal than to grocery shop and cook. There was no one around so why bother? I had no self respect for myself, no motivation, and figured this is how my life was going to be.

In July I went home, and while I was excited to see my friends and family, I was also dreading it. Do you know what it's like to always be the fat girl in the family? To constantly need to do your hair, make-up, and look nice so people notice those things instead of how overweight you are? Do you know what it's like when your Mom and sisters can where the same cute shirt and you can't? Well let me tell you... IT SUCKS!

When I was home I had a really good talk with my parents. While they will love me no matter what, they could tell I gained quite a bit of weight since the year before. They worried about my health because I have horrible lineage. 2/5 of my Uncles just had major health scares and they are both in their 50's. My parent's told me I needed to get healthy.

Enter Weight Watchers. Now before you roll your eyes, hang with me. I was exactly where some of you might be. I rolled my eyes at WW. I even tried it in college and hated it. However, my Mom convinced me to try one more time. So I did. And I'm now on the right track.

You see, with the "fad" diets that are in (gluten free, SouthBeach, Atkins, Jenny Craig, etc) they are all very limiting. I didn't want that. I still wanted to have my Edy's Slow Churned S'mores ice cream. I wanted to have my carbs and dinners out. Weight Watcher's let me do that. Hey, as long as you track your points, it's your health plan. I liked that.

A surprising thing happened though. I began to become more aware of how much eating out was affecting my diet and my budget! I would eat out and total my points thinking "I could have made this for less points, and less money, and have leftovers!" So that's what I did. I cooked more. I looked at labels. I paid attention to how food was making me feel.

I've become one of "those" gluten free people. Not to loose weight, but watching my eating habits made me realize that I feel better when I'm not eating gluten. I enjoy shopping at Whole Foods and looking at the labels. I enjoy trying new things, even Kombucha!

Today was my 6th weigh in and I'm proud to say that I've lost 11 pounds! Better than that though, I'm starting to get my confidence back. I'm fitting comfortably into my clothes again. I have more energy and my digestion issues are so much better.

So Weight Watchers might not be the thing for you, and that's ok. But if you were struggling like me, get help for yourself. Stop doing the fads and find something you can stick with.

Simply, BE HAPPY & HEALTHY!

Blogtember: Days 2 &3

Blogtember is in full effect. I decided to combine days 2 & 3 because for me, they go hand in hand. Day 2 is all about a place you wish you could live and day 3 is some advice you want to give.

This is my advice... MOVE! Now I know this isn't possible for everyone. I'm talking to the people who feel like they are "stuck". I felt that way. I LOVED Michigan, more specifically my family and friends. But I was ready to check out of my small, gossip town and experience new things.

 Enter Las Vegas. I had only been a few times, and that was before I was 21 so I couldn't do much. Living here now, I really enjoy it. I mean how often can you tell someone I went to Venice, Paris, and NY NY in the same day?

Paris Hotel

Venice Hotel

While city life is great. I'm also a country girl at heart. I love that one day I can go and visit all these great "tourist attractions" but the next day I'm in the mountains hiking. I can see both the strip & the mountains from my apartment. I can live the city girl life and be my hick self. I can even experience winter by driving to Utah or Reno!

Mount Charleston

Red Rock Canyon

So while many people are wanting to visit Paris, France or some tropical destination I am perfectly happy where I am. And to all those who think they wouldn't survive a move... TEST YOURSELF! You might be surprised!

Blogtember: Story of My Life

I came across a few bloggers who were doing this post. I looked into it and it seems like fun, so why not try it? So welcome to the first of my Blogtember posts.... sponsored by Jenni

 First, my name is Arielle, but EVERYONE calls me Elle (pronounced Ellie). I love my nickname because my Grandpa gave it to me when I was little.

I grew up in a small, little town in Michigan. It's the town where you just drive on by unless you need gas or fast food. My high school graduation class was a whopping 75 people. I played different sports, band, and student council. Basically, my high school years were good to me :)

 After high school I went to Michigan State University to study special education. College was filled with such fun experiences and I miss it so much. I truly bleed green & white, have never missed a Michigan State football game, more importantly, received a bachelors and masters degree from the best education school.

Snow Day!

After college, I decided I needed to spread my wings and fly away. Growing up in Michigan was amazing, but I was ready to experience something bigger. An amazing teaching oppertunity knocked on my door and I answered. I just began teaching 3rd grade for the 2nd year. Teaching is my insane passion and I'm so blessed to have found my calling. Did I mention it's in Las Vegas?!

The most important aspect of my life is my family. While I don't discuss it much on here, my parents divorced on my 19th birthday. I no long communicate with my biological Dad, which is very difficult. However, I have a great relationship with my Step-Dad and step-siblings. More importantly, I have the best relationship with my Mom and little sister. I have amazing friends with have been with me through everything. I am one blessed lady <3

Little sister and I

Mom, Step-Dad, and I on the lake this past summer

My Mom. My rolemodel. My best friend.

Happy Holidays from my family!

My best friend Erika & I at a MSU game!

Best friend Christine & I. She's a published author!

Kristin. She's seen me cry, we went through schooling, and are still close.

 In what little free time I have I love to read, cook, workout, and visit family and friends. I spend hours on the phone on Saturdays catching up with everyone! I spend my Sunday mornings at church showing my LOVE to God and singing his praise.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little better. Keep reading and I'm sure we'll become bloggy friends!