*JillD*

Quote: Originally Posted by PaulaV If you have more than 40 guests you can do the buffet which we did so we would have more choices. If you do plated, everyone has the same thing, no choices for the guests on the entrees, you choose one for all. If you do choose plated I believe there is a surf and turf that was really good. we did the surf n turf and it was Fantastic! we had surf n turf in one of the restaurants one night and it was good, but the food for the wedding was SOOO much better, the filet melted in your mouth.

Quote: Originally Posted by dmarie17 Okay, this is probably obvious to some but I'm confused. We are going with the Silver menu package and on our contract it says for the plated dinners choose: 1 salad, 1 soup, 1 entree, 1 dessert. And then I have a separate list with the menu. Soo... the menu lists 3 entree choices for dinner. I guess my question is, do my guests each choose 1 of the 3 or do I pick one of the 3 and everyone eats the same thing? Wow, I think I've confused myself. Am I making sense? I want to get my Invites out and was thinking about putting entree choices on it if thats a possibility. Maybe I should just go with the buffet! Quote: Originally Posted by dmarie17 Well that kinds stinks... So I can't give them a choice of chicken or beef huh? Do you know if any of the other more expensive packages will let me have options? I'd normally just go with chicken (who doesn't like chicken, right?) but i have a few vegetarian guests. Help, what do I do? you just choose one entree, but if you have vegetarians let them know and they will make something different for them.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 I think about 5 months. They are getting divorced so I don't know if that helps me or hurts me. They may just want out of it or maybe she lives there for free until it sells? Don't know. Also, a widowed lady was going to buy it a couple months ago then backed out at the last minute... I don't know how much she offered though. Maybe that will make them more willing to sell? Typically the longer its been on the market the better the chance of them accepting a lower offer. Unless like you said, she doesn't need to sell immediately and can wait for what she wants. If they were all prepared to move and then someone backed out at the last minute, they're probably ready to let it go, you would think.

we should all start emailing him saying we want to use his service and then when he responds to us we can say that we heard he's not good to do business with because he's a cheat and steals deposits.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 Yeah, we aren't selling anything AND we are already approved for a loan beyond what were are looking at. So, we can sign the papers ASAP. I am just afraid I will go too low and offend them or go too high and screw myself. Also, in the closing costs. Our mortgage broker told us it's pretty easy to get the seller to take care of most or all of the costs. But, if they don't we can take care of it. It's just so stressful not knowing what to expect. I'm a realtor, in my experience buyers will typically offer 10-15k lower than the asking price, sometimes lower if the house has been on the market a long time and has some issues. The house you're looking at looks really nice, wish I could get something like that here for that price, lol! You should definetly get some comps of similar houses that have sold recently in the area, to get an idea of the market in that area. That will give you a better idea if it's worth what they're asking. Also, if you're going to ask them to cover closing costs, I wouldn't go too low with your asking price, assuming that it's priced fairly. You don't want to offend the sellers, everyone deserves a fair price for their home. I really hate when people that I'm working with say to me, well I'm just going to low ball them, offer them XXX, XXX being 40k lower than what they're asking, for example. I just don't think thats right at all. Not that I think you're doing that, I just wanted to vent, lol!

Everyone has done a great job with their siggy's this month!!! I apologize for not participating, but I tried several times to make one and it just was NOT working! But everyone's came out really good!

Quote: Originally Posted by antonia321 hmmm... I definitely don't spin that often just 2-3 times a week at the most and the girls in my class who do it regularly are pretty lean and toned. You can adjust the resistance so your muscles aren't working so hard and aren't building more muscle, just toning. Its like when you are lifting weights and don't want to get big, keep the weights light. I've also noticed my stomach getting flatter!! YAY!! My teacher says its because you're using your core muscles to hold up your body. Your arms and shoulders should be relaxed and your core is supposed to be doing the work. Ladies, if you're trying it, let us know your results!!! I'm happy with mine! I never really noticed people in the class having large butts or thighs either. And the same thing I just did it 1-2x per week in addition to step, kickboxing, weights, etc... I could see how if it was the only type of workout that you did it could bulk you up in those areas.

what a great story! Imagine what could have happened to that poor dog if you hadn't stayed, you did a great thing!

DH loves my dad, they don't get to hang out a lot together, just because my dad owns his own business and is usually busy on the weekends when DH is off, but DH loves hanging out with him whenever he can. I think it's because they're SOOO much alike.

Quote: Originally Posted by PaulaV Yes she did tell me that, this is the case for many vendors. They have certain ones they work with and she could give you a choice if you ask. I think many of us want to control the details which is hard from afar. I know I did... but they have the wedding packages and such for a reason. They have a wedding almost everyday at Dreams Cancun. I look back and think I should have just let them plan it all as the package was... less stress for me and it still would have been just perfect! Paula, I thought the same thing! It would have been so much less stressful, not to mention less expensive, if I had just taken the package and run with it. All the things I stressed about, worried about, wanted to change, etc... they have it setup to run seamlessly. Quote: Originally Posted by dancingdolphin I'm finding Claudia doesn't want to substitute anything. I read on the forum how one bride substituted the dessert in the package for a larger wedding cake. When I asked for this (multiple times), she said they wouldn't do it. Since someone else said the dessert was better than the cake, I may just take the standard cake and keep the dessert. I wish they were more flexible and I really don't want to fight on every little substitution. I picked a destination wedding for LESS stress, not MORE. I decided which things I didn't want in the package and I decided what things I wanted that weren't included and then I emailed claudia a list and said I don't want XYZ, instead I'd like to substitute ABC. She did say no to some of the things I requested, but did allow some. They may have gotten stricter on that, I'm not sure. And yes, the dessert is better than the cake, I think only one or two people even ate a piece of cake, we didn't even have it served because we had dessert, so people just helped themselves if they wanted some. I love cake with sweet frosting, this cake was not very good. So I wouldn't really worry too much about it.

When I would listen the my father daughter dance song in the car, I would CRY MY EYES OUT! I cried a lot when I would hear our song as well. I thought I was going to be a big crying mess on our wedding day. Especially since I cry at every wedding I go to! So you can imagine my surprise when I didn't shed one tear all day on our wedding day! I couldn't believe it! I was just so happy & giddy, I couldn't even think of crying!

Quote: Originally Posted by Yari I am no longer doing WW. I went to a nutritionist and he put me on a plan that requires me to eat six times a day...only chicken, steak or fish. I can have one starch in the morning and afternoon, but none at night. This plan is a lot harder than WW, but I am determined to stick with it for at least two months. If at two months I don't see a significant drop, then I will switch back to WW. So do you have to eat chicken steak or fish for breakfast? or is that when you eat your starch? Sounds like a good plan, sort of like a twist on low carb. Quote: Originally Posted by Sarah Wow Saraha- awesome work this week! I just weighed in and lost 2.2lbs this week! Woohoo! I'm amazed, considering I started working out this week and generally GAIN when I start a workout routine. Plus I ate dinner at PF Changs on Sunday, Mexican on monday and popcorn at the theater monday night. But, besides that, I was a very good girl and I guess it paid off. I usually lose weight sooooo slow- I don't tend to drop weight fast, but this contest is definitely keeping me motivated. Congrats to you all- and for those of you who didn't lose, the best thing is that this is a new week- start over time! OK, off to the gym I go... cardio weights class Time to kick my butt! Good Job Sarah! Quote: Originally Posted by Nrvsbride Congrats to all the ladies who lost weight! And to those who didn't, don't give up we are starting fresh with Week 3! I lost 2.6 pounds. I'm kind of surprised considering how bad I was this past week. Oh well time to leave the past behind and move forward to the next week. Let's make this a good week ladies! BTW I was watching Bulging Brides (I saw a marathon) and I noticed that in 6weeks most of them lose on average 11 pounds (which really isn't a lot) but they all end up losing tons off in inches. So I think for all you guys doing weights you are probably not seeing a lot of number losses but you are probably toning up and losing inches. I think its better to lose inches. I personally haven't done any weights b/c my best friend's BF (who is a trainer) told me that if I started off with weight I would lose very little weight and it would discourage me so it was better to do just cardio for a month and then introduce weights by the second month. Good Job Glenda!

Quote: Originally Posted by Saraha Good morning ladies!!! Hope you are doing wonderful on weigh in day #2 With some help of the stomach flu and not being able to work out or eat for about a week, I lost 7.5lbs. I know its def. not the healthiest was to lose weight but Im still really excited and hopefully I will be able to keep it off. Im starting the gym again today so wish me good luck..... Good luck ladies!! I cant wait to see the big numbers your going to pull intoday! Wow Sarah! That's fantastic! Good Job! Quote: Originally Posted by Sarah I haven't slept yet- and I worked out last night before I went to work, so I'm weighing in when I get up this afternoon. I totally realized that I've been updating my buddy, and a couple people I've talked to on the phone (thanks for the encouragement Melissa, Alyssa, and Glenda!), but I haven't updated anything on this thread! I joined a gym (finally!) and have a workout partner from work. She's another weekend night RN so we've joined a class that meets Saturday mornings (we'll go after work) and Mon/Wed afternoons. It's a cardio weights class and absolutely kicked my butt last week. I've also gone to the gym 2 other days this week besides my classes, and will go to class before I go to work tonight. I'm officially working out now and it feels great. I was in such good shape before my wedding last year and I'm finally feeling like I could actually get back to that! lol Anyway, I'll update my weight later today, just thought I'd let you girls know what I've been up to... You're doing great Sarah, I'm so proud of you for joining the gym and sticking to it! My goal this week is to find a class that I can take a couple times a week on top of my workouts at home. That way I will have something that I'm committed to. Quote: Originally Posted by cessyboston i am so proud of all of you congrats ...sarah wow 7.5 you go girl and miss jilly that is so awesome...i lost 1. lb ill take it...good luck everyone... Good Job Erica! You'll be at your goal before you know it! Quote: Originally Posted by froggie1013 I'm down 2.4 pounds this week! Way to go girls! Good job 2.4 lbs is great! Quote: Originally Posted by Alyssa good morning girls! i lost 1LB. I am happy about it b/c i am surprised i even lost anything - with being sick and not really exercising at all (and having four thousand social events this past weekend) i was sure i was going to stay the same or gain. i am so thankful to everyone's support - you girls are all AWESOME!!!!! Alyssa xoxox I'm with you! I definetly thought my numbers on the scale would be going in the wrong direction today, but they didn't! I think it totally made my day and got me back on track! Good job on the pound! Quote: Originally Posted by Yari Wow Sarah! You kicked butt! Congrats on the loss!!! I lost 1 pound, I am so bummed...but I know that it is better than nothing. I am working out hard and eating right, not sure what is going on. I am going to continue at it and won't give up. I really expected to lose a lot more, at least five pounds. Sigh. I do feel a lot better and have more energy, so that is good news. Don't be bummed. You're working out and you're feeling more energized and I bet healthier, a pound is a pound, it's better than gaining. And if you keep up like you are, I bet one of these weeks you're all of a sudden going to see a huge loss, once your body just kicks in to all of the muscle you've been building, etc... Are you following any type of eating plan? Oh, I think I remember you're following WW too, right? What I did my first week was I followed my points allowance exactly and didn't use any exercise points or any of my 35 weekly points. Obviously not every week can be like that, but I think if you try not to use the extra points unless you really need them, that might help you out. Also, I follow the normal points plan, but one week when I did the core plan I lost 5 lbs. that week. I don't know which one you normally follow, but maybe you should mix it up a little. I was thinking of following core this week, to see if I could lose more.

I'm happy to report that I just weighed in and lost 1.8 pounds!!! I couldn't believe it, I felt like I did SO horrible this week, proof that maybe sometimes we really are too hard on ourselves. Good luck with your weigh ins girls!

Quote: Originally Posted by Yari I am a little mad at myself! I went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner with friends and I had bread. Ugh! I am not supposed to eat carbs at dinner time at all. It is against my diet plan. I am so mad at myself. Don't beat yourself up Yari, we all have bad days. I was so busy yesterday DH wanted pizza and smelling it all the way home I couldn't resist. I got home and DEVOURED 2 pieces! I was so mad at myself! Quote: Originally Posted by tvt I finally found a yoga place!! YEAYYYYYYYY!! I'm going to start next week - since I'm heading to MN this week/weekend. I cannot wait! Hopefully that will help me shed these stubborn last 15 lbs! That's great Tara! Good Luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by cessyboston im sure you did fine stop being so hard on your self...take it day by day..no worries miss jilly... thanks Erica! You had two really good weeks, I can't wait to see how well you did again this week!

Quote: Originally Posted by kristi Jilly..I was looking at your pics...they're absolutely beautiful by the way...just wondering where you found your garter...I love it!!! I bought it on ebay. If you do a search for starfish garter it should come up and you can pick the color.

Quote: Originally Posted by Raeka UGH tomorrow is weigh in. I am not looking forward to seeing my numbers I'm not looking forward to it either. I had a super busy day today and ended up eating pizza for dinner tonight I feel so horrible about this week, I feel like it was more bad than good. I guess all I can do is suck up the weight gain that I'm sure I'll have tomorrow and get back on track and have a really good week this week.

I worked out for an hour, I did a couple of different workouts, some tae bo, some jogging, some pushups, crunches, jumping jacks, etc..

Quote: Originally Posted by gkashmira I did TERRIBLE! I think this was the worst diet weekend I can think of since I restarted WW in January! I mean just AWFUL! Oh well - I am hoping to at least break even and not gain this week but I can't promise anything! I feel bad but I don't feel THAT bad to be honest because a friend and I had been planning a wine tasting weekend in Santa Ynez (north of Santa Barbara) - and it was exactly that! Fun? yes. Delicious? Yes. Fattening? Hell yes! sigh... well at least I can promise to be perfect with my WW points between now and Wednesday night... I mean I'm already like 24 points over my 35 flex points (for those of you who understand points) - That is ridiculous! Kash, your not the only one, seems like a lot of us had bad weekends. Sometimes you just have to be able to have those really fun days of not worrying about how many points your eating and that's okay. I wish I had a good excuse for eating bad like you do, I was just sitting home all weekend with PMS. Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha Just checking up on everyone! Don't get discouraged! Just jump right back in to it! I know at the end of the 8 weeks, you girls are going to be so proud of yourself! Thanks for checking on us Martha, keep us motivated!

Quote: Originally Posted by Nrvsbride I did horrible this weekend. I didn't do anything so bad like go out and drink, but I ate way too much turkey chilli. I have no clue how many calories are in that thing but I was so depressed that I stuffed my face. Plus I had AF this week so I have a feeling that when I step on the scale on wednesday I am not going to like what I see. Oh well today is a new day right? Just had me a salad. ~Just wanted to mention that I have decided not to go out for awhile. I know I can't lock myself at home but I know that if I go out I will be tempted to drink and once I'm drunk I will want greasy bar food. I've also been turning down dinner invites. I need to do this for myself for awhile so that I can become more disciplined. Glenda, I should have called you to check in, I'm a bad buddy Maybe we could have helped each other, or made it worse, who knows, lol! I kind of feel like I have to stay home more too because if I go out I will drink and then I will eat that night and the next day, so its just better for me not to drink. My friends called me to go out for a few drinks tonight, but I told them no, they keep calling, hopefully they'll give up soon. I have AF too this week, it sucks!! I feel so bloated and even though I really only had two sort of bad days, I still feel like I'm going to gain this week. But I guess thats kind of to be expected since I'm sure a lot of my loss last week was water and my body has to balance itself out. We shall see soon! Quote: Originally Posted by Saraha Great job everyone!!! Cessy- more weight, were not going to be able to see you by the end of this!! Ann- Great job the baby needs a little work out too... plus you need some gifts too wouldnt be fair if the baby got it all! Yari-Better go to the gym... will be checking with you later to make sure you went!!! Aylssa- Your doning wonderful!! Keep up all the good work even if you weekend wasnt so wonderful, must be nice to have a lot of friends ;o) Glenda-Yup todays a new days... you have done soooooo good so far so keep it up and stay away from that greasy food and alcohol! Jill-An hour?? Thats awesome drink that water up! Well think thats everyone.... Yeah AF is here for me too UGHHH so hopefully it wont be up too much. But had the flu past four days so that has affected the scale so we will see wed keep it up girls your doing sooooo goood!!!!! Sarah, you've been doing really well, you're going to have a great loss this week, I can feel it!

we didn't build a house, but I just want to make one comment. Friends of ours built a house. They found a lot they loved and the lots were owned by a builder, so he was the builder they had to use. They started this whole process in May of 2005, they just moved in, in August of 2007. Yep, over 2 years they waited for that house. They had SOOO many issues with their builder!! He was never working on the house, they heard he was foreclosing on a bunch of his houses, where there house is, he was building 3 other houses, the bank was going to foreclose on all 4 of them (mind you they had paid upfront for upgrades so they had about 20k already into this house) and they managed to get to keep their house, but the other 3 were all sold, right out from under the people that already had a LOT of money invested in them. So, the moral of my long drawn out story, is really, really research your builder, make sure they are reputable, that they do good work, talk to some people that have used them, and check into as much of their financial situation as you possibly can. Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by cessyboston I have stayed really focused....did great this weekend and i stepped on the scale and peaked and it was down again yuppie....good luck girls keep focused you are all doing do great i thankk all of you so much again for this i could not have been this strong without out.all of you....(you too ann) Good Job Erica! I'm so proud of you for staying strong! I got up this morning and worked out for an hour, I'm so glad I did, I feel so much better! Today I've got to get back to drinking a lot of water and stay within my points until weigh in on wednesday.

WOW, christa I can't believe it's been a year since your wedding! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Since we're confessing I had a HORRIBLE weekend too! The day started off okay yesterday, but I was in such a bitchy mood and PMSing that I wanted to eat everything in sight!! I don't think I did horrible eating, but I didn't write anything down, so I have no idea how much over I went. And then I drank 3/4 of a bottle of wine, normally I would have drank the whole thing plus, but I tried to show a little self control, lol! Today I had oatmeal for breakfast, but then when lunch came I ate some chili I had made for DH the other day, had no idea how many points it was, then I had to make him pizza rolls, so of course I ate a few, and he made me cook corned beef, with all the trimmings tonight. We did it in the crock pot, sort of like a casserole, so I ate one & a half bowls of it and have no idea how many points that was, but it can't be good! Oh, and because I drank a bottle of wine last night purchased at the gas station, there was no way I was working out this morningm with my splitting headache! We all have 3 days til we weigh in though, count your calories and exercise extra hard and all of our efforts for the past week won't be for nothing! Don't forget to drink your water too, I've been slacking on that this week.